[13] Bayesian was a flybridge sloop designed by Ron Holland[1] and built by Perini Navi with a 56 m (184 ft) long aluminium hull and superstructure and a single-masted cutter rig.

One of the world's largest sailing yachts, it was one of a number of similar vessels from this designer and shipyard, though the only one of their ten 56-metre series that, at the initial client's request, was not a two-masted[14] ketch.

[20] Lynch was celebrating his acquittal for fraud in his trial in San Francisco and had invited lawyers, friends and associates to join him, his wife and their daughter, to visit the Aeolian Islands, off the northern coast of Sicily.

[21] Bayesian sank shortly before daybreak on 19 August 2024 during a storm when anchored 300 metres (980 ft) off the port of Porticello, a small fishing village about 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Palermo, Sicily.

[26] Data from the tracking of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) showed that at 3.50 CEST Bayesian was already being buffeted by the storm and then began to drag its anchor.

At 4.05 it was entirely underwater and a few seconds later its emergency position-indicating radiobeacon (EPIRB) raised the alarm, which was picked up by the satellite station managed by the Bari Coast Guard.

[39] The editor of Sailing Today suggested that the exceptionally tall mast might have affected the yacht's stability, while the chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council described the sinking as a potential black swan event.

[8] A naval architect interviewed by a yachting magazine opined that the low positioning of the cockpits and a heavy salon door that could slide open were also possible ingress points for downflooding.

[41] A photograph that was taken from the Sir Robert Baden Powell, 14 minutes before the sinking, however, shows the large door on the port side of the hull was closed.

[43] Giovanni Costantino, chief executive officer of The Italian Sea Group, which now owned the shipyard which built the yacht, defended its design, describing it as "unsinkable" and suggested the crew should, given the approaching storm, have shut doors and hatches, started the engine, lowered the keel and faced the wind.

[44] The seafarers' union Nautilus International cautioned against blaming the crew before the full facts were known, saying it was "not only unfair but also harmful to the process of uncovering the truth and learning any lessons from this tragedy".

[22] The New York Times interviewed more than twelve naval architects and other experts who identified a number of weaknesses in the design of the yacht that may have contributed to the sinking, including: the height and weight of the mast; the positioning of air vents; two tall glass doors and a sunken deck.