Inside the doomed superyacht party that ended in tragedy: How British tech tycoon Mike Lynch gathered family for an exorbitant celebration on his vessel to toast his high stakes fraud acquittal before freak 'whirlwind' caused it to sink READ MORE: 'Britain's Bill Gates' and his daughter are among six feared dead By Katherine Lawton Published: 19:30 BST, 19 August 2024 | Updated: 20:12 BST, 19 August 2024 e-mail View comments What was an elaborate celebration to commemorate Mike Lynch's high stakes fraud acquittal turned into tragedy as his superyacht fell victim to a freak water spout. The luxury sailboat was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when a 'whirlwind' hit the area just before 5am this morning, wrecking the boat and causing it to rapidly disappear beneath the waves. The yacht had been visible to surrounding ships before it suddenly vanished, claiming the life of one person while six remain missing.
Fifteen of the 22 people onboard were rescued by Sir Robert BP, a Dutch sailing ship, which was in front of the yacht. British tech tycoon Lynch had reportedly invited his family and friends on the sailboat to celebrate charges of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly scheming to inflate a company's value before it was sold being dropped. 'At around 4:30 in the morning it was gone.
A beautiful vessel where there had been a party. A normal holiday day spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy,' a witness told Italian news agency ANSA. As a desperate search eff.