Locals in Sligo have described their relief after an Irish woman was rescued when a yacht sank off the coast of Sicily earlier this week. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56m-long superyacht, was carrying 22 people, and was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized during a fierce storm on Monday. Sasha Murray, 29, from Maugherow in Co Sligo, was working as crew on the Bayesian and was one of 15 survivors.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, seven people were reported missing. The body of man believed to be the boat’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan man, was recovered near the yacht on Monday. On Wednesday, four bodies were found inside the wreck of a luxury yacht .
Rescue officials have been looking for six missing people, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International. The identities of the victims found on Wednesday were not immediately given. Neighbours of the Irish woman caught up in the incident said she is “outgoing” and “very personable”.
“She is a lovely girl," said Dessie Carway, a neighbour who knows the family and runs the Sligo Sea Barn beachfront tourist accommodation in the Maugherow area. Ms Murray’s family, who are "respected locally" has already endured tragedy. Her father, motor racer Fionn Murray and grandfather, Holger Schiller, were killed when the light aircraft they were flying crashed after taking off from Strandhill Airport in 1998.
The family had been taking part in a treasure hunt when the plane suffered engine failure and crashed, Mr Carway said. Mr Murray had been well known in motor racing circles and Mr Carway said he believed he raced in Mondello Park before his death, aged 33. Ms Murray’s grandparents, Holger and Erika Schiller, came to Sligo from Germany in the 1970s and stayed with Mr Carway.
They loved the area and decided to stay, buying the nearby Ardtarmon Castle and extensively renovating it. The family runs an estate agency Schiller and Schiller from the castle. Ms Murray’s mother Jessica had also worked on yachts in the past.
Relief for community Local councillor Marie Casserly also said it was a relief for the community the Sligo woman had survived. The Bayesian, which was owned by UK tech tycoon Mr Lynch's wife, was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and last refitted in 2020. It had the world's tallest aluminium mast, measuring 72m, according to its makers.
Mr Lynch, 59, is one of the UK's best-known tech entrepreneurs and has been referred to as the country's Bill Gates. He built the UK's largest software firm, Autonomy, which was sold to HP for $11bn (€10bn) in 2011, after which the deal spectacularly unravelled with the US tech giant accusing him of fraud, resulting in a lengthy trial. Mr Lynch was acquitted on all charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.
Morvillo had represented him at the trial, while Bloomer was a character witness on his behalf. The six people who were missing on the boat are Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo..
