A key focus of the investigation is whether the yacht’s crew failed to close access hatches before the tornado struck.
Some yachting experts have suggested that if these hatches were open, The Bayesian could have taken on water rapidly, leading to its swift sinking.
However, Andrea Ratti, a nautical design professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, noted that a yacht of The Bayesian‘s size would need to take in a massive amount of water to sink so quickly. This suggests that other factors may have contributed to the tragedy.
Bad Weather Tragedy
The yacht’s captain, James Catfield, from New Zealand, recounted the suddenness of the waterspout that turned a luxurious superyacht into a deadly trap. “We just didn’t see it coming,” Catfield told Italian media.
Colonel Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, confirmed that the agency had recorded intense lightning activity and strong gusts of wind in the area during the time of the incident.
