Cambridge tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter still missing after superyacht sinks off coast of Sicily
Cambridge entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter are among six tourists missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily, it has been confirmed.
A body, believed to be that of the vessel’s cook, has been found and police divers are trying to reach the hull of the ship, which is resting at a depth of 50 metres.
Four of the missing passengers are British and two are American, Italian news website la Reppublica stated.
Sicily’s civil protection agency told the BBC that 18-year-old Hannah Lynch was among those missing with her father, along with the yacht’s chef, Ricardo Thomas.
The yacht was carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers.
Fifteen people including Dr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued, according to local media.
The British-flagged superyacht, named Bayesian, capsized at about 5am local time off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.
One of the survivors was British tourist Charlotte Golunski, who works for Invoke Capital, a company founded by Dr Lynch that has a Cambridge base in JJ Thompson Avenue.
She told la Reppublica she held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, to stop her from drowning.
She said: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.
“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
Charlotte and Sofia are being treated in hospital, as is Sofia’s father, James Emsley.
Dr Lynch, who founded software giant Autonomy in Cambridge in 1996, was made an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006.
In June, he was cleared of all fraud charges relating to an $11billion (£8.64bn) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
A spokesperson for the 59-year-old said there was no comment.
The yacht sank as a fierce storm battered the area overnight.
The daily Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported that the vessel had mostly British passengers on board, but also people from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland and British-French citizens.
Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency said: “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Karsten Borner, captain of a nearby boat, told journalists those missing included the Bayesian’s owner and a child, news agency Reuters reported.
He said his crew took on board some survivors who were on a life raft, including three who were seriously injured.
Fisherman Francesco Cefalu said he sailed from the shore to the scene after seeing a flare at about 4.30am, but by the time he arrived Bayesian had already sunk, with only items such as cushions and wood floating in the water.
He added: “I think they are inside, all the missing people.”
A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “We are in contact with the local authorities following an incident in Sicily, and stand ready to provide consular support to British nationals affected.”
Bayesian completed a number of sailings in recent days, calling at various ports in Sicily, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder.
The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites, and is listed for rent for up to 195,000 euros (£166,000 ) a week.
She was built in 2008 by Italian company Perini Navi.
Her registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd, which is based on the Isle of Man. The BBC has reported that its annual report, published in April, names Dr Lynch’s wife as the company’s owner.
Dr Lynch is of Irish heritage – his father was a fireman from Co Cork, and his mother was a nurse from Co Tipperary.
In a 2015 radio interview, Dr Lynch confirmed that he was born in Ilford in London, despite a number of reports that he was born in Ireland and raised in England.
He said during the same interview that he spent childhood summers in Carrick-On-Shannon and Tipperary and has family who still live there.
Dr Lynch read natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, before studying for a PhD in natural sciences and connectionist models.
He has also been involved in Cambridge cybersecurity unicorn Darktrace and was a director for five and half years at Luminance, the a company using AI for the legal industry.
He is believed to have made more than £500million from the sale of Autonomy. A year later, HP later wrote down its value by $8.8bn.
A legal battle ensued, with HP claiming there had been huge accounting improprieties, which led to Dr Lynch being extradited and facing trial on 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy. Towards the end of the trial, US District Judge Charles Breyer threw out a count of securities fraud and Dr Lynch was cleared of all the other charges.
Had he been convicted, he could have faced 20 years in prison.
Dr Lynch told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier this month that his wealth had saved him.
“You shouldn't need to have funds to protect yourself as a British citizen.” he said. 'The reason I'm sitting here, let's be honest, is not only because I was innocent but because I had enough money not to be swept away by a process that's set up to sweep you away.”
