The seas were calm when the Bayesian, the $40 million superyacht of the British tech mogul Michael Lynch, dropped anchor off Sicily.
Lightning crackled. Winds neared hurricane strength. The sky dumped a blinding torrent. The yacht drifted out of control. Then it was gone.
A New York Times investigation discovered that the Bayesian’s most striking feature — its extra-tall mast and the engineering to accommodate it — made the yacht vulnerable to capsizing.
The Bayesian was an outlier. All the other boats in the same series, from the same Italian manufacturer, had two masts instead of one.
Technical documents obtained by The Times and computer models show the yacht was susceptible to being knocked over in a storm and would sink quickly.
Fifteen survivors, bloodied and broken, made it to a life raft. But seven died as the Bayesian plunged to the bottom, where divers have searched for answers.
By Jeffrey Gettleman, James Glanz, Emma Bubola, Elisabetta Povoledo, Pablo Robles, Josh Holder and Sarah Hurtes