As the Mallorcan and global nautical community struggles to comes to terms with this week’s tragic accident in Sicily a leading member of the local nautical industry has set up a crowdfunding site to raise funds for the crew.
The skipper behind the site states: “I would like the yachting community and anyone else to donate to support the crew and the fellow crew member who sadly lost his life in the line of duty. The funds will be share equally amongst all of the crew to support them in the mental, physical and financial challenges that lie ahead. I hope the outcome of our help allows the crew to move forward with their lives and can rely on the support of our yachting community.”And the response has already been extremely positive.
The nautical industry in Mallorca, the Balearics and across the world has been left stunned and in deep shock after the British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht capsized during a fierce, pre-dawn tempest on Monday carrying 22 passengers and crew and was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo.
Fifteen people survived, the body of one person who died was recovered promptly, and this morning (Thursday) one person remains unaccounted for after five bodies were recovered, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International. Another of the 15 survivors has been confirmed as Dutch national crewman Tjis Koopmans.
Not only had Bayesian been based in Mallorca, in particular the Club de Mar in Palma and Port Adriano, for many summer seasons, according to nautical industry sources consulted by the Bulletin, she also underwent regular refits in Palma. The senior members of the crew are very well known on the island, in particular the only confirmed fatality to date, Canadian-Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas.
On Monday night at 8pm, yachts in Palma and across the Balearics sounded their horns in tribute to all those involved in the accident and since news of Thomas’s body having been recovered, the industry is in deep shock. “He (Recaldo Thomas) was larger than life, always had a smile and was extremely well known in Mallorca, he was the life and soul of the yachting industry and very professional, just like the rest of the crew. They were all some of the very best in the industry and I used to not only work with them but drink with them too,” one superyacht skipper told the Bulletin, not wishing to be named.
“We’re all in deep shock, especially those working on the sailing yachts, it’s tragic and we all feel for those on board and if a crowd funding page is set up for Recaldo I am sure the yachting community will be very supportive and I am sure the yacht’s management team will be. It’s going to be very tough for the survivors to get through this and then move forward. It’s just shocking,” he said.
The brother of the skipper, James Cutfield, has told the New Zealand Herald that his brother was a “very good sailor” and was “very well respected” in the Mediterranean. He said he is currently in hospital but was not suffering from injuries “too dramatic”. He said that they had been called by Cutfield’s wife Cristina before the news broke so they would know he was not among the dead. She had flown from their home in Palma to be with him in Italy and has been updating the New Zealand family.
Cutfield had been involved in building ships for 30 years in the Mediterranean, as well as racing 470s in his youth, before becoming the captain of luxury yachts eight years ago. He had reportedly been with a Turkish billionaire before working for Mr Lynch.
Witnesses said the boat disappeared beneath the waves in a matter of minutes, baffling naval experts who said such a vessel, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini and presumed to have top-class fittings and safety features, should have been able to withstand such weather. Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation and authorities have started questioning passengers and witnesses.
The captain and his eight surviving crew members have made no public comment on the disaster. Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group , which includes Perini, said the Bayesian was “one of the safest boats in the world” and basically unsinkable. He added that he believed the disaster was caused by a chain of human mistakes and that the storm had been expected, in interviews with Italian media.
“The ship sank because it took on water, from where investigators will have to say,“ Costantino told television news programme TG1 late on Wednesday. Citing data from the yacht’s automatic tracking system and based on available footage, Costantino said it took 16 minutes from when the wind began buffeting the yacht, and it began taking on water, for it to sink. Costantino said the Milan-listed group had suffered “enormous damage” to its reputation, with shares falling 2.5% since the disaster.
To donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-all-the-crew-of-sy-bayesian?attribution_id=sl:c67269f0-1bb3-42ad-ae8b-582f9bc92f48&utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link