skat yacht sold

71m Lurssen Superyacht ‘SKAT’ Sold

The Lurssen superyacht ‘SKAT’ has been sold for the first time since her delivery in 2002. The 71m vessel was sold by Fraser Yachts , with Stuart Larsen representing both the buyer and seller.

‘SKAT’ has been with the same owner since her 2002 delivery, spending almost two decades sailing worldwide. After many years of service, she has undergone a 2021 refit, ensuring she is in top condition for her new owner.

The iconic superyacht, whose name means “treasure” in Danish first turned heads due to her military-like exterior courtesy of naval architect Espen Oeino . The interior of the Lurssen ‘SKAT’ comes from the design mind of Marco Zanini.

Stuart Larsen of Fraser Yachts stated that “SKAT was one of the most exciting yachts on the market this year.” He further added, “she was extraordinarily well built, impeccably maintained, and her layout and design are innovative and elegant. Her enduring appeal was confirmed by the extraordinary interest shown by buyers during the Monaco Yacht Show.”

SKAT was asking €49,500,000.

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Microsoft billionaire’s $60 million superyacht is a warship on vacation. Known as the father of MS Word and Excel, Charles Simonyi once worked as a night watchman in a computer lab. His yacht has a helipad and when cruising the massive ship is quieter than a Rolls Royce Phantom.

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All about the $40m bayesian yacht that capsized, leaving 6 dead and 1 still missing.

The massive superyacht Bayesian that sank off the coast of Italy on Monday won numerous awards for its sleek interior design — and was sold to its original owner for nearly $40 million.

The luxury sailing ship was carrying 22 people when it capsized and sank during a fierce storm early Monday.

The bodies of five of six missing passengers, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch , 69, have been recovered. His daughter, 18-year-old Hannah, is the only one of six known killed in the tragedy yet to be found, a source close to the rescue operation told Reuters.

The ship’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, has also been confirmed dead.

Divers continued searching the wreckage of the 184-foot-long, British-flagged vessel, previously called Salute, on Wednesday after discovering four of the bodies.

When it was built in 2008, the Bayesian had the tallest aluminum mast in the world, standing at 237 feet, earning it the award for best exterior styling at the World Superyacht Awards in 2009, the Telegraph reported.

The sprawling superyacht’s interior, decorated with sleek, minimalist furnishings created by Remi Tessier, has also won numerous awards.

The ship, which accommodated 12 guests, had a master bedroom and three double and two twin bedrooms.

It also featured beige sofas, dark wood furnishings, and a teak deck equipped with a large canvas awning to keep guests cool, according to the outlet.

Some of the ship’s styling, including thin brown pillars and miniature terra cotta sculptures, was inspired by Japanese culture.

What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily:

• A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing seven passengers.
• British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was identified as one of the bodies pulled from the wreckage. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was the final one to be recovered.
• Lynch — known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — had invited guests from Clifford Chance, a legal firm that represented him, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage,  according to the Telegraph . 
• Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the  Bayesian sank Monday  shows it disappearing.
• A rare and unexpected “black swan” weather event may have led to the  Bayesian’s speedy demise , maritime experts say.

The extravagant ship won best interior at the International Superyacht Society Awards in 2008 and was also voted one of the best large sailing yachts at the 2009 World Superyacht Awards, according to the outlet.

The yacht’s original owner, John Groenewoud, a Dutch real estate developer, reportedly bought the ship for £30 million ($39 million) when it was built. In 2014, he sold the ship with an asking price of £27 million ($35 million).

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The Bayesian is currently owned by Revtom, a company that listed Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, as its legal owner.

It was named after the Bayesian statistical model that helps financial investors calculate risk — the subject of Lynch’s PhD that later helped him build his empire.

The vessel, operated by yachting company Camper & Nicholsons, had twin 965hp MTU engines, which gave it a range of 3,600 nautical miles at 13 to 15 knots (14 to 17 mph).

RSB Rigging carried out rig service works on the ship with Astilleros de Mallorca, a shipyard facility in Palma, in November 2016.

The Bayesian returned in September 2020 for scheduled service works, including having its mast removed and reinstalled.

Steve Branagh, managing director of RSB Rigging, told the Telegraph: “At this time, our deepest sympathies go out to the friends and families of all those affected by this dreadful tragedy.”

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‘To create something one has to start from a concept. What is the purpose? What is the style? I have a simple answer: the yacht is to be home away from my home in Seattle, and its style should match the style of the house, adapted for the practicalities of the sea. I expect to occupy the yacht mostly at anchor or in port, so this calls for a full displacement hull. Speed is to be secondary to space, quiet and convenience.’

These words by Charles Simonyi, Skat ’s owner, were impressed on Espen Øino’s mind as he flew back to Europe in April 1999 after spending a day with Simonyi at his waterfront home. He realised that he faced his biggest challenge to date.

‘Honest’ is the key word that Øino attributes to the project, shaping a defining language of intersecting flat surfaces with no arbitrary shapes. He recalls: ‘The owner is a rational and logical man who believed that most boats looked as if they were carved out of soft cheese and thought, “Why spend time and tonnes of filler to make it look like something it is not? Steel and aluminium come in flat plates!”’ As the man who oversaw the development of Excel and Word at Microsoft, it was natural to expect Simonyi to like methodical order. ‘To create [Baudelaire’s] ordre et beauté all surfaces must be easily cleaned and all contents must have built-in spaces for them,’ he had said: shoes stowed on shelves, for example, not in wicker baskets on deck.

Guest cabins, and indeed all spaces, are free of superfluous lines or decoration. Uncluttered, simple surfaces, clean painting and, above all, lots of light put people first. Marco Zanini, the interior designer, specified few materials and colours but still achieved the appropriate richness in each space, with minimum tolerances in the extremely modern detailing. Splashes of colour – red and blue – are evident in some loose furniture, while original artworks by Lichtenstein and Vasarely stand out in the natural light.

Øino successfully interpreted the brief, producing a boat not dissimilar from Simonyi’s main home, just the bow and sweeping knuckle showing a curve (and, of course, the underwater form for hydrodynamics). The profile, finished in grey like the owner’s house, jet and helicopter, appears suitably ‘menacing’, but the number 9906 on the hull, while it looks military, is simply Øino’s project number (Year 1999, Enquiry No. 06). However, warship technology does exist below the skin, with double-resilient mounted machinery ensuring that Skat is ‘very, very quiet’.

Extensive glazing allows a lot of light in – as well as spectacular views out, while the overhanging ‘conservatory’ gives a unique look both inside and out. A smooth transition from exterior to interior really does happen on this yacht in a logical and contemporary manner.

About SKAT , brought to you by BOATPro

SKAT is a 70.7 m Motor Yacht, built in Germany by Lurssen and delivered in 2002.

Her top speed is 18.1 kn and she boasts a maximum range of 4600.0 nm when navigating at cruising speed, with power coming from two MTU diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 10 guests in 5 staterooms, with 20 crew members. She has a gross tonnage of 1982.0 GT and a 14.01 m beam.

She was designed by Espen Oeino International , who has designed 69 other superyachts in the BOAT Pro database.

The naval architecture was developed by Lurssen , who has architected 71 other superyachts in the BOAT Pro database, and the interior of the yacht was designed by Flavia Alves De Sousa and Marco Zanini - she is built with a Teak deck, a Steel hull, and Aluminium superstructure.

SKAT is in the top 5% by LOA in the world. She is one of 117 motor yachts in the 70-80m size range, and, compared to similarly sized motor yachts, her top speed is 0.3 kn above the average, and her volume 200.59 GT above the average.

SKAT is currently sailing under the Cayman Islands flag, the 2nd most popular flag state for superyachts with a total of 1414 yachts registered. She is known to be an active superyacht and has most recently been spotted cruising near Portugal. For more information regarding SKAT's movements, find out more about BOATPro AIS .

Specifications

• Yacht Type: Motor Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Displacement
• Builder: Lurssen
• Naval Architect: Lurssen
• Exterior Designer: Espen Oeino International
• Interior Designer: Flavia Alves De Sousa , Marco Zanini
• Refits: 2015,2018,2019,2019,2022,2024,2024

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SKAT yacht NOT for charter*

70.7m  /  231'11 | lurssen | 2002 / 2022.

Owner & Guests

Cabin Configuration

• Previous Yacht

Special Features:

• Elevator for convenient access
• Impressive 4,600nm range
• Recent refit in 2022
• Lloyds Register ✠ 100A1, SSC Yacht (P) Mono, G6, , ✠ LMC , UMS classification
• Award winning

The award winning 70.7m/231'11" motor yacht 'Skat' was built by Lurssen in Germany at their Bremen shipyard. Her interior is styled by design house Marco Zanini and she was completed in 2002. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Espen Oeino and she was last refitted in 2022.

Guest Accommodation

Skat has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 12 guests in 6 suites. Additionally, there are 2 staff cabins aboard. She is also capable of carrying up to 18 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Onboard Comfort & Entertainment

Her features include an elevator, beach club, gym and air conditioning.

Range & Performance

Skat is built with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, with teak decks. Powered by twin diesel MTU (16V 4000 M70) 16-cylinder 2,682hp engines running at 2000rpm, she comfortably cruises at 15 knots, reaches a maximum speed of 18 knots with a range of up to 4,600 nautical miles from her 224,000 litre fuel tanks at 14 knots. An advanced stabilisation system on board promises exceptional comfort levels at anchor or on any voyage. Her water tanks store around 62,000 Litres of fresh water. She was built to Lloyds Register ✠ 100A1, SSC Yacht (P) Mono, G6, , ✠ LMC , UMS classification society rules.

*Charter Skat Motor Yacht

Motor yacht Skat is currently not believed to be available for private Charter. To view similar yachts for charter , or contact your Yacht Charter Broker for information about renting a luxury charter yacht.

Skat Yacht Owner, Captain or marketing company

'Yacht Charter Fleet' is a free information service, if your yacht is available for charter please contact us with details and photos and we will update our records.

Skat Photos

Skat Awards & Nominations

• International Superyacht Society Awards 2003 Best Power 43m+ Winner

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Specification

M/Y Skat

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Missing Tech Tycoon Mike Lynch's Business Partner Dies After Being Hit by a Car Days Before Yacht Sinking: Police

Lynch's former business partner and co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain was struck by a car on Aug. 17, and police announced that he'd died three days later

linkedin; Shutterstock

The co-defendant of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch , who is still missing amid a superyacht sinking in Sicily , has died after being struck by a car, police have confirmed.

Stephen "Steve" Chamberlain, 52, died in the hospital after being hit by a car in Cambridgeshire, England, on Saturday, Aug. 17 authorities said in a statement on Tuesday, Aug. 20. Local police are now investigating his death as they are seeking witnesses to the incident.

Authorities previously reported that a pedestrian in his 50s had been “seriously injured” in the collision, which happened at around 10:10 a.m. on Saturday. The driver of the car was confirmed to be a 49-year-old woman who “remained at the scene.”

The Guardian reports that Chamberlain was out for a run at the time he was hit, citing his attorney Gary Lincenberg.

Cambridgeshire police shared a statement from Chamberlain’s family in tribute: “Steve was a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend. He was an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible. ... He will be deeply missed but forever in the hearts of his loved ones.”

HANDOUT/Cambridgeshire Police/AFP via Getty

Chamberlain was the co-defendant of Lynch in a U.S. trial over his tech company Autonomy. He was accused of fraud and conspiracy over allegedly inflating the company's earnings with Lynch ahead of an $11 billion deal with Hewlett-Packard, per The Times ,  TechCrunch  and the  Associated Press .

The former business partners were both acquitted of all 15 charges in June by a San Francisco jury.

Following Chamberlain's death, his attorney Lincenberg described him as "a courageous man with unparalleled integrity."

"We deeply miss him," Lincenberg said, according to the BBC . "Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family."

Lynch remains missing along with his daughter Hannah and four others after the yacht they were aboard sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, Aug. 19, following a serious storm, PEOPLE previously reported.

Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty

The Italian Coast Guard said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that the Bayesian , a 183-ft. yacht flying the U.K. flag, sank near Porticello around 5 a.m., local time on Monday after a "violent storm."

Twenty-two people were on the vessel at the time, including 10 crew and 12 passengers, authorities said.

Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 people rescued, PEOPLE reported. Six additional people — including two Americans and four British citizens — remain missing, the coast guard and local sources said.

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

A spokesperson for Sicily's civil protection agency, Francesco Venuto, previously told the BBC that authorities believe the missing are trapped in the yacht.

"We've been searching all day with helicopters and boats. We've found nothing,” said Venuto. “That wouldn't make sense; in these conditions, we should have found something by now.”

Related Articles

Watch CBS News

Here's what to know about Mike Lynch, the tech tycoon missing in the Sicily yacht disaster

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

Updated on: August 21, 2024 / 12:05 PM EDT / CBS News

Mike Lynch, once hailed as "Britain's Bill Gates," is now among the six people missing after his luxury yacht sank in a violent storm off the coast of Sicily. At the time of the disaster, Lynch had been trying to shake more than a decade of legal entanglements that ended in June when he was cleared of fraud and conspiracy charges . 

On Wednesday, two bodies had been brought to shore in Porticello, near Palermo, and two more were in the process of being brought ashore. Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported that the bodies of Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter were among the remains recovered Wednesday, but the civil protection chief would not confirm that report to CBS News. 

Lynch, 59, rose to prominence in the late 1990s with the development of his software company, Autonomy, which helped businesses quickly find information buried in email and other digital documents. In 2011, Lynch sold the business to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion, giving him a $800 million payday and cementing him as one of the U.K.'s richest people. 

But the acquisition was later called one of the "most notorious failed mergers and acquisitions" after HP discovered alleged accounting issues, leading to Lynch's firing by HP's then-CEO, Meg Whitman. HP claimed that Autonomy had used accounting improprieties to bolster its underlying financials ahead of the acquisition, charges that Lynch steadfastly denied. 

The case stretched into a 12-year legal fight that ended in June 2024 when a federal court jury in San Francisco delivered not-guilty verdicts.

"I am looking forward to returning to the U.K. and getting back to what I love most — my family and innovating in my field," Lynch said in a statement after the verdict.

Here's what to know about Lynch. 

What company did Mike Lynch start?

Lynch, who earned a PhD in mathematical computing from the U.K.'s Cambridge University, first cofounded a company called Cambridge Neurodynamics, based on the cofounders' work with pattern recognition. The firm used the tech to match fingerprints and car license plates, according to a 1997 article in The Guardian.

From there, Lynch cofounded Autonomy in 1996, which relied on a statistical model called Bayesian inference, named after a theorem developed by the 18th century statistician Thomas Bayes. (Lynch's luxury yacht was christened the "Bayesian.")

The company tapped into the growing need of businesses to sort through and find information within the vast reams of data created by the increasing use of computers and digital documents.

Autonomy's steady growth during its first decade resulted in Lynch being awarded one of the U.K's highest honors, the Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2006.

Lynch told The Guardian in 1997 that people didn't quite believe that a growing tech business could emerge from the U.K. 

"I have actually heard the comment, 'England, software? I thought you made bone china,'" he told the newspaper. 

What happened after Autonomy's acquisition by HP?

At first, HP celebrated the purchase as a huge coup that would propel the Palo Alto, California, company down a promising new path, but then quickly came to regret it under then-CEO Meg Whitman.

HP claimed it found accounting irregularities, and the company ended up recognizing $8.8 billion in losses in the Autonomy deal. Whitman eventually fired Lynch in 2012, while also laying off thousands of workers as HP's fortunes sagged. 

Throughout the past 12 years, Lynch rejected the allegations. He told the Wall Street Journal in 2012 that he was "ambushed" by the claims, which he described as "completely and utterly wrong."

What happened with Mike Lynch's legal case?

Lynch maintained his innocence while testifying earlier this year before a jury during a 2 1/2 month trial in San Francisco. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses in an attempt to prove allegations that Lynch engaged in accounting duplicity that bilked billions of dollars from HP.

The jury, as noted above, delivered not-guilty verdicts in June, vindicating Lynch, who pledged to return to the U.K. and to find new ways to innovate. 

Who is Mike Lynch's wife? 

Mike Lynch is married to Angela Bacares, who is one of the people rescued from the Mediterranean after the yacht sank. Lynch and Barares have two daughters. One of them, Hannah, 18, is among the missing, according to the BBC. 

Bacares, 57, owns shares in Darktrace, a British cybersecurity company she and Lynch co-founded, the Sun noted . She sat in the front row of the courtroom during her husband's trial, but generally has preferred to stay out of the public eye, the Times of London reported in July.

"We made the decision that Angela would not be involved in the case. She stayed completely separate. Her focus was the family and children," Lynch told the Times last month.

— With reporting by the Associated Press.

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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Who is Mike Lynch? A look at the British tech tycoon killed when his yacht sank off Sicily

T ech tycoon Mike Lynch, who died after his yacht sank off Sicily, had been trying to move past a Silicon Valley debacle that had tarnished his legacy as an icon of British ingenuity.

Lynch, 59, struck gold when he sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011 . But the deal quickly turned into an albatross for him after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale and fired by HP’s then-CEO Meg Whitman.

His death, confirmed on Thursday by Italian officials after they recovered his body and five others from the sea, was a dramatic turn of events that came after he was cleared of criminal charges in the U.S. in June.

Before becoming entangled with HP, Lynch was widely hailed as a visionary who inspired descriptions casting him as the British version of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Lynch was science and technology adviser to two British prime ministers. He also founded Invoke Capital, a venture capital firm that was a founding investor of British cybersecurity company Darktrace, and Luminance, an artificial intelligence platform for the legal industry.

Lynch was “an instrumental figurehead from the Cambridge (England) technology scene," said friend Brent Hoberman, former CEO of travel website lastminute.com. Hoberman told the BBC that Lynch was "leading the path forward for U.K. entrepreneurs to commercialize their inventions at a global scale.”

A decade-long legal battle had resulted in Lynch's extradition from the U.K. to face criminal charges of engineering a massive fraud against HP, a company that helped shape Silicon Valley's zeitgeist after starting in a Palo Alto, California, garage in 1939.

Lynch steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he was being made a scapegoat for HP's own bungling — a position he maintained while testifying before a jury during a 2 1/2 month trial in San Francisco earlier this year. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses in an attempt to prove allegations that Lynch engaged in accounting duplicity that bilked billions of dollars from HP.

The trial ended up vindicating Lynch and he pledged to return to the U.K. and explore new ways to innovate.

Although he avoided a possible prison sentence, Lynch still faced a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven't been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

Forbes pegged his wealth $1 billion in 2015, the only year he was on the magazine’s rich list. Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper estimated this year that Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares were worth 500 million pounds ($655 million).

Lynch, a Cambridge-educated mathematician, made his mark running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly. Autonomy's steady growth during its first decade resulted in Lynch being awarded one of the U.K's highest honors, the Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2006.

John Browne, chair of Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research institute, and former head of energy giant BP, said Lynch’s “ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally.”

The Royal Academy of Engineering, where Lynch was a Fellow, said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of his death and that he played an “active role” as a mentor and donor.

In the months leading up to the deal that would go awry, HP valued Autonomy at $46 billion, according to evidence presented at Lynch's trial.

The trial also presented contrasting portraits of Lynch. Prosecutors painted him as an iron-fisted boss obsessed with hitting revenue targets, even if it meant resorting to duplicity. But his lawyers cast him as entrepreneur with integrity and a prototypical tech nerd who enjoyed eating cold pizza late at night while pondering new ways to innovate.

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