This season there is an incredible range of beautifully designed and built luxury sailing yachts now available for charter vacations around the world, and particularly in the superyacht hot spot of Greece. A list of smaller Greece sailing yachts can be viewed and you can browse the largest super sailing yachts here. Within the Greece there are some wonderful destinations which continually remain at the top of the list for those favoured by luxury yacht owners and vacationers alike. .
For one reason or another certain yachts are more popular this year. Taste varies but generally if the yacht is new, stylish, has a proven crew, and offers good value then it be coveted and booked out early in the season. Charter brokers recommendations also increase a charter yacht's popularity as these are based on past performance and feedback. Also brokers often visit the yacht, meet the crew and judge it's condition before offering their advice. Charter yacht popularity is constantly evolving, but here is a selection of yachts we have found to be .
Sometimes luxury yachts offer discounted prices in Greece when they have unexpected availability in shoulder season or they have a last minute cancellation. Most specials are not advertised because the client actually ends up getting the discounted rate after successful negotiation by their charter broker. Nevertheless, have a look at the Greece boats on special, just in case there is a boat which looks just right for you and you family. As a popular yacht holiday destination, there are usually a good number of specials available as advertised on our .
There are a number of yacht events in the Med this year where you can charter a yacht for the event. The Monaco Grand Prix is popular as certain yachts are able to be moored track-side for the best view if the race. Later in the year the Monaco Yacht Show certainly bears a worthy mention. Down the French Riviera coast a little we also have a couple of notable events in Cannes, namely the Cannes Film Festival and MIPIM. St Tropez hosts some important sailing yacht racing events. Sardinia also host an important yacht racing regatta called the superyacht cup. There are various boat shows in the Mediterranean such as the Barcelona Charter Show. Here are .
Endorsements and positive feedback from yacht charter clients is one of the most important measures of how good a yacht, crew, charter broker and destination really is. Accordingly, we gather feedback from all the clients that are interested in providing it so that we can can use this wealth of real experience to constantly assess the quality of the superyachts and crews that we offer, as well as our own performance. Combined with brokers visiting the boats and crew, this is one crucial way we can recommend the best yachts each year. If you would like to see some of this client feedback .
Each Greek Island often holds its own unique charm. While on your charter yacht you can easily acquire wonderful food such as fresh tomatoes, olives, oranges, strawberries, melons, feta, yogurts and bread from all Greece’s main islands.
Many yacht charters around the Greek Islands tend to be sailing traditional Turkish Gullets. The cruising grounds are varied with the startling beauty of the Ionian Islands to the West, the modern sophistication of the Cyclades and the undiscovered history and artistic charm of the Aegean Islands. A sailing yacht charter holiday is the best way to enjoy a land of intriguing culture and startling beauty.
As one of the most well known yacht charter grounds in the Mediterranean, Greece offers all the main types of yacht charters. These include luxury motor yachts, sailing, yacht charter, skippered, crewed yachts, catamaran, power boat, sailboat, luxury yachts and the ever increasing luxury super yacht charter.
With its many amazing beaches, beautiful clear waters and fantastic bars, it’s not surprising many visitors head for Greece every year. Here’s some advice if you’re planning a yacht charter vacation this summer.
Greece’s holiday season is quite long starting in May and finishing in mid-October. If you visit before or after these months, there aren’t so many people around especially on the more popular islands. Mykonos for example doesn’t have many visitors in May so the nightlife isn’t as vibrant than in July or August. If, however you love relaxing in the sun and prefer a quieter vacation, avoid these two months.
Always check the weather when you decide to take a yacht charter holiday in Greece. It’s usually warm in the early and late season although the sea temperature is a little cooler in early summer. December brings colder weather and cold waters so swimming is out unless you don’t mind being a bit on the chilly side. This month late in the year on the other hand is a good time if you wish to see the culture and history of Greece as it’s fairly quiet. Most yacht owners and charterers prefer to visit the Greek Islands between May and early October, so expect busier times when choosing to sail during these two months.
With around 2,000 Greek islands to choose from it’s a good idea to do a little research about the island or islands you intend visiting - see above. There are historical islands, islands that are sophisticated and islands that are totally uninhabited. You won’t need a huge suitcase of clothes if you’re going to an island that’s underpopulated and you just plan to swim, sunbathe or eat on board your superyacht. All you will need are shorts, T-Shirts and swimming costumes.
However, if you decide to visit islands such as Rhodes, Paros or Mykonos you may need a large suitcase. Dining out in smart restaurants, dancing the night away in clubs or wanting to be part of the jet set means you will probably want many changes of wardrobe. Pack luggage accordingly, taking casual along with elegant clothes to suit all occasions.
A guide book isn’t really that necessary if you’re heading to the Aegean Sea on a superyacht charter. Islands in this region are close together and there’s plenty of information elsewhere. With so much info on so many places, it’s an impossible task to read it all so maybe a short summary is the best bet about each place you intend to visit.
Get a general idea of accessibility to certain islands, make sure you can moor in the dock and find out the size of the port. Do a little homework about the nightlife, attractions and the types of beaches to expect. You can then work out an itinerary of the island you prefer to spend time on and where to go, as well as what to see once you’re there.
How about reading some of the more notable books about Greece? The Story of Ulysses or Odysseus, the King of Itheca or Homer’s Odyssey make interesting subjects to get you into the swing of this beautiful country.
Like most of the Mediterranean, the Greece yacht chartering season generally runs from April to the end of October. The summer season in July and August is the hottest and tends to have strong Meltemi winds blowing frequently. This is also the high season as far as numbers go. The best time to charter a yacht is probably either of the shoulder seasons (April-May and September-October), each side of the main summer season, as the temperatures are the most comfortable, the wind lighter (yet reliable) and the onshore tourists have yet to arrive or have just left in their largest numbers.
The Main Areas: Ionian Islands, Greece Yacht Charter - Aegean & Sporades, Greece Yacht Charter - Cyclades, Greece Yacht Charter - Dodecanese Islands
Below is a selection of sailing yachts and motor yachts available for charter in GREECE:
(Additional Greece charter yachts can be found here or you can contact us for the full list here )
Dear Josh, I was just about to write you one word "WOW!!!"Thank you very very much! Your recommendation is now becoming a brand :-) I can now blindly trust your advice :-) I loved the boat. It is in excellent condition. It is rather big, but cozy. We had all the chances for interactive sailing and for the discreet leisure time. We hardly ever went anywhere out of the upper deck, because it was so lovely! The master bedroom was perfect. The idea with two bathrooms is great! I loved the crew. Everyone was welcoming, ready to help and in general they were very pleasant people! Especially the captain and his senior assistant Tasos. We felt as if we were hosted by the family of old friends. Despite the short trip, they shown us lovely places to swim, advised on the island hiking, entertained us with the tender/toys. Food. Majestic! It was the first try for the new chef on Gitana. And he exceeded any expectation! Quality, quantity, the table service ...were impeccable. Your wines arrangement worked very well too! Sailing. We had just two chances to open full sails. But it was great! Otherwise the motor was perfectly sufficient. The boat was remarkably stable while on the go. So, our last minute booking turned out to be a fantastic adventure! Thank you very much! I am glad that you were there to help with this difficult booking. Really appreciated! S/Y GITANA / Athens, Greece / Oct 2
In close proximity to Greece are a number of exciting sailing destination.
Lady e | from us$ 665,000/wk.
Greece yacht charter specials, 5% discount location: east mediterranean.
Special rate location: greece.
10% discount location: greece.
Special discounted rate location: east mediterranean.
Charter yacht disclaimer.
This document is not contractual. The yacht charters and their particulars displayed in the results above are displayed in good faith and whilst believed to be correct are not guaranteed. CharterWorld Limited does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information and/or images displayed. All information is subject to change without notice and is without warrantee. A professional CharterWorld yacht charter consultant will discuss each charter during your charter selection process. Starting prices are shown in a range of currencies for a one-week charter, unless otherwise marked. Exact pricing and other details will be confirmed on the particular charter contract. Just follow the "reserve this yacht charter" link for your chosen yacht charter or contact us and someone from the CharterWorld team will be in touch shortly.
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This is a small selection of motor and sailing yachts available for a luxury yacht charter to Greece. Please contact your Burgess broker for a personalised selection.
Rate from USD 3,000,000 per week
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Rate from USD 497,000† per week
Rate from USD 1,100,000† per week
Rate from USD 490,000 per week
Rate from USD 945,000† per week
Rate from EUR 1,000,000 per week
Rate from EUR 900,000 per week
Rate from USD 1,150,000† per week
Rate from USD 870,000† per week
Our expert brokers know the cruising grounds intimately, both personally through first-hand experience and in real time through contacts on the ground. Your Greek yacht charter itinerary will be tailored specifically for you to deliver the holiday you want.
Planning the perfect charter requires specialist knowledge, trusted contacts on board and on the ground, as well as first-hand knowledge of yachts, crews and locations, as well as legal contracts and local regulations to build an experience that suits you perfectly. Another reason to choose a broker is that sometimes there can be unforeseen issues with yachts or destinations and having an experienced broker to protect your interests and build a plan B is hugely reassuring.
Creating the unforgettable is what we do at Burgess. It’s what our knowledge, experience and passion are all about. We take all the hassle out of the planning so you can just turn up and have the best holiday ever.
Discover the Burgess difference
Charter a luxury yacht with Burgess. We are trusted for our expertise, and it is the first-hand insights of our charter brokers that raise the bar. Our collective knowledge serves to make your superyacht charter experience exceptional. Explore our stunning collection of luxury yachts for rent or hire and speak to our experts about chartering a private yacht to your dream destination.
Every charter yacht in the Burgess fleet is unique, from interior design and on board facilities, to watertoys and impeccable service. We rigorously inspect every yacht to ensure that when you find your ideal match, it exceeds every expectation.
A superyacht charter offers life-affirming adventure and little can compare to a tailor-made experience orchestrated by your Burgess broker. By accommodating both your preferences and requirements, no detail is left to chance.
Burgess charter brokers are involved well beyond the booking stage. We share our intelligence on the best itineraries to suit you, organise private jet transfers, on board celebrations, luxury boat hire, restaurant bookings, spa treatments, fitness instruction and more.
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Charter in the Med
Last availability for the summer 19 August - 6 September and from 25 September onwards
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Charter in the West Med or Spain
Remaining availability until 29 August
Feel like sailing the Greek islands? Interested in a skippered, crewed or bareboat sailing charter in Greece? Greek island hopping is one of Europe’s unmissable adventures. Nausail is an expert in all aspects of yachting in Greece and is here to help you find the right boat at a fair price, plan your itinerary, prepare your journey and support you with tips and insights on how to live the ultimate Greek island sailing experience.
Outstanding Sailing in Greece with a peace of mind
Led by a team of passionate sailors and adventure seekers travelling the Greek seas for over three decades, Nausail connects travellers seeking yacht charters in Greece with our trusted local partners that are equally committed to offering you the best sailing holidays in Greece.
Expert, Local Greek Island Yachting
Get privileged access to the best sailing in Greece and feel the pleasure of sailing the Greek isles . Offering both bareboat and skippered yacht charters, curated tours and custom journeys, Nausail is turning Greece sailing trips into lifetime memories. Whether sailing in Greece with family and friends or wanting to rent a boat in Greece for your honeymoon, be prepared for a to remember. Discover the secrets of the Greek seas, explore hidden coves and pristine beaches, experience the rich gastronomy and culture, swim in crystal clear waters and dive into the azure at some of the most mesmerizing sailing destinations in Greece.
Lifetime Experiences of Boat Rental in Greece for Thrilled Customers
Catering to easy-going pleasure seekers and sailing enthusiasts, Nausail introduces you to the joys of sailing Greece and the Greek islands’ lifestyle. Our team promises to go above and beyond expectations to take you on a lifetime journey where you will see and feel the best of Greece. Putting a lot of effort and passion into offering a personalized service, Nausail takes boat rental in Greece to a whole other level, to an extent that will leave you asking for more, wishing to return again and again and shout from the top of your lungs “Αγαπώ την Ελλάδα”, I LOVE GREECE!
Aegean highlights: mykonos, paros, naxos, santorini.
Cruise the Greek Islands on a Private Yacht with an Experienced Skipper and Crew.
Ideal for all groups and ages
Ideal for Families, Honeymooners, Sailing Enthusiasts, Explorers.
Ideal for Families, Honeymooners, Avid Travelers, Sea Lovers, First Timers
Great for First Timers and Inexperienced Sailors looking for easy sailing and a relaxing pace.
As an expert in yacht charter in Greece, Nausail focuses on finding the right yacht for your sailing needs and budget.
Nausail ensures to make your special occasion as special as you are with a selection of sailboat rentals that exceed expectations. From yacht chartering to tailored experiences and with 50 years’ experience in the industry, Nausail offers you unforgettable sailing holidays in the Greek islands.
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One of the best places for a yacht charter holiday: Greece . Greece is a country with thousands of islands throughout the Aegean and Ionian seas. Influential in ancient times, its often called the cradle of Western civilization and this history can be found in Greece still. A luxury yacht charter holiday can be a dream way to experience the Greek islands. From April onwards we offer vacations with an unparalleled sense of freedom and connection with nature.
Chartering a Luxury Sailing Yacht, Catamaran Yacht, or Motor Yacht, with skipper or with a crew, in Greece with friends or family is a unique way to explore the beauty of the islands and mainland Greece. Nothing compares to the freedom and excitement one feels on a luxury yacht charter holiday amongst the Islands.
We work with a small selection of well maintained and equipped yachts and can help you find the most suitable yacht, step-by-step! Some of the yachts we offer are featured on this website.
Gianetti Star 64 6 GUESTS PLUS CREW AVAILABLE IN CYCLADES FROM € 14.500 PER WEEK
BENETEAU OCEANIS 51.1 8 GUESTS PLUS SKIPPER AVAILABLE ALL OVER GREECE FROM € 5650 PER WEEK WITH SKIPPER
FOUNTAIN PAJOT 50 10 GUESTS PLUS CREW HOMEPORT ATHENS, AVAILABILITY FROM € 16000 PER WEEK WITH CREW
LAGOON 52 12 GUESTS PLUS CREW AVAILABLE FLEXIBLE FROM € 12600 PER WEEK WITH CREW
ICON 64 22 Knots, 8 GUESTS PLUS 3 CREW LOCATION FLEXIBLE FROM € 15000 PER WEEK
ALALUNGA 78 28 KNOTS, 10 GUESTS PLUS 4 CREW ATHENS BASED, AVAILABLE CYCLADES FROM € 26000 PER WEEK
Classic Motor Sailor 10 Knots, 8 GUESTS PLUS 3/4 CREW NORTH AEGEAN, SPORADES, CYCLADES FROM € 17500,- PER WEEK.
Classic MOTOR SAILOR 10 Knots, 10 GUESTS, 4 CREW FLEXIBLE STARTING PORTS: EAST MED FROM € 19000 PER WEEK
Maritime history: dokos, the most ancient shipwreck in the world, grand soleil gs 65 – grand soleil, greece among safest countries to visit in 2023: a3m risk map | gtp headlines, world’s most fascinating archeological discoveries | tourism review.
At Sail Greece we are interested in making friends that enjoy sailing and will come back to Greece many times over to enjoy the great sailing, fantastic weather and beautiful islands on offer! We are happy to assist in suggesting a suitable boat for your party and to advise on the best routes to sail according to your preferences, simply contact us to get started !
Sail Greece owns all the boats we charter. Therefore you can rely on better hire prices and enjoy the best possible support for you to have a great sailing holiday in Greece!
A wonderful advantage of sailing yacht charters in Greece is the small distances between many of the islands. If you have a week (or even a weekend!) you may easily visit islands in the Saronic Gulf or the Cyclades.
For those of you hoping to sail in Greece for the first time we suggest you explore some popular routes we often recommend and to browse our boats for hire . If you have any questions feel free to contact us , we are happy to help!
If you have sailed in Greece before or sailed with us before and know what boat you want then head straight to our charter request form and we will get a quote to you immediately.
Sail Greece was formed 30+ years ago (in 1985!) by two close friends, Giannis Makridakis and Vassilis Patiniotis. We try to think like customers and we care about making friends that enjoy sailing rather than clients. We charter our own privately owned boats without any commission.
We are proud to have happy customers in most countries of the world and are even more proud that many are willing to provide personal recommendations to those thinking about using our boats. We invite you to have a look at our testimonials and we will be happy to provide a personal contact in your country who will be happy to testify to our services.
Sail Greece is pleased to offer fully crewed charters upon request. With our crewed charters your boat comes with a crew to sail your boat and a hostess to prepare your meals on board. The safety and management of the boat is the responsibility of your captain while day to day shopping and preparation of the meals is the duty of your hostess. You simply sit back and enjoy your stress free and relaxing sailing vacation in Greece! Contact us for more details.
Sail Greece Yacht Charters
Our trips with Sail Greece have been fantastic!!!
I highly reccommend Sail Greece to those who want to experience sailing in Greece.
We visited loads of "secret" beaches which could not be reached by land.
You can immediately see the care and attention to detail that The Sail Greece crew take with their boats.
We had a wonderful trip thanks to you, Tomas and the rest of the crew.
I fully recommend Giannis and Sail Greece as good partners for smooth sailing!
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Network Yacht Brokers Lefkas
At Network Yacht Brokers Lefkas office we pride ourselves on being part of the largest group of independent yacht brokers, with offices throughout the UK and Europe.
Largest Selection of Yachts for Sale in the Ionian area of Greece
We offer the largest selection of yachts for sale in the Ionian, ensuring you find the perfect vessel for your needs. Our extensive inventory and network mean your boat gets maximum exposure.
Extensive Marketing Coverage
Our comprehensive marketing strategy ensures that our yacht brokerage listings are featured on all major yachting websites and media platforms, providing unparalleled visibility.
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Our 30 offices use a centralized system, allowing each office to access your boat’s details. This integrated approach increases the likelihood of matching buyers and sellers more effectively than any independent broker or private advertisement.
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By Anna Matranga
Updated on: August 22, 2024 / 10:48 AM EDT / CBS News
Rome — Divers recovered the body of a fifth victim of the Bayesian superyacht wreck Thursday morning, Sicily Civil Protection Chief Salvo Cocina confirmed to CBS News, and the Reuters news agency cited Italian Interior Ministry official Massimo Mariani as saying it was the body of Mike Lynch, the British tech magnate whose wife owned the vessel.
Italian Coast Guard spokesperson Vincenzo Zagarola told CBS News that teams were still working to recover the body of the sixth and final person left missing when the boat went down. The six bodies had remained stuck inside the 184-foot luxury yacht for days after it sank early Monday morning off the coast of Palermo, Sicily in a severe thunderstorm.
Four bodies were retrieved Wednesday from the Bayesian, which was resting on the seafloor at a 90 degree angle at a depth of over 160 feet. The vessel's position and items that moved around inside the ill-fated yacht made recovery efforts slow and hazardous.
Italian authorities have not officially identified the remains recovered from the Bayesian, which belonged to Lynch's wife Angela Bacares. She was among the 15 people who managed to escape from the boat as it sank quickly on Monday morning, but Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those left missing.
Another victim, the Bayesian superyacht's chef, was found dead soon after the boat capsized.
Along with Lynch and his daughter, the technology mogul's American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, and British banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, were believed to have been trapped in the yacht when it sank.
Questions as to how the state-of-the-art boat could have gone down so quickly have mounted steadily since the accident.
Italian media were reporting Thursday that, after questioning survivors and witnesses, Italian prosecutors had opened an official investigation into a possible "culpable shipwreck." No individuals had been named as potential suspects.
On Thursday, Giovanni Costantino, head of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the company Perini Navi, which built the Bayesian in 2008, blamed human error.
"A Perini ship resisted Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 [hurricane]. Does it seem to you that it can't resist a tornado from here?" he remarked to the newspaper Corriere della Sera. "It is good practice when the ship is at anchor to have a guard on the bridge, and if there was one he could not have failed to see the storm coming. Instead, it took on water with the guests still in the cabin. ... They ended up in a trap, those poor people ended up like mice."
One possible factor could have been that the ship's keel — a fin-like structure that sticks out from the bottom of the boat, designed to provide stability and counterweight to the huge mast — was not fully deployed. The yacht had a retractable keel that could be raised for entry into shallow harbors. But a raised keel at sea would have made the ship much more vulnerable to instability in the strong winds that struck early Monday morning.
When asked whether divers had seen the ship's keel in a raised position, a spokesman for the Italian Coast Guard told CBS News that only the prosecutor investigating the incident could confirm such information but that the Coast Guard "was not denying" it.
The ship's captain, 51-year-old New Zealand national James Cutfileld, was questioned for two hours by prosecutors on Thursday, according to Italian media.
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Writing by Crispian Balmer and Giulia Segreti; Additional reporting by Danilo Arnone in Porticello, Marta Di Donfrancesco, Gavin Jones and Alvise Armellini in Rome, Paul Sandle and Sachin Ravikumar in London, Wladimiro Pantaleone, David Bario and Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Ros Russell and Michael Perry
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The waterspout blamed for the deadly sinking of a luxury superyacht carrying the British tech billionaire Mike Lynch in Italy has been called a freak “black swan” event. But scientists believe this kind of marine tornado is becoming more common with global warming.
While the cause of the sinking of the Bayesian hasn’t officially been determined, weather conditions and witness reports from Sicily, where the yacht was anchored off the coast, have led experts to suspect a waterspout, a whirling column of air and water mist. The key factor for waterspout formation is warm water—and the past year has seen the ocean surface heat up to record-breaking temperatures , in part due to climate change.
“If this rate of warming is going to be continuing in the future, it’s very possible these phenomena will be common and not rare,” says Michalis Sioutas, a meteorology PhD who studies waterspouts in Greece and is a board member of the Hellenic Meteorological Society. “It’s very possible to talk about waterspouts or even tornadoes and extreme storms becoming common.”
The 180-foot Bayesian sank in a matter of minutes after being caught in a sudden storm with strong winds and intense lightning at around 4 am on Monday. Fifteen people who had been aboard were rescued, and one person was found dead. Six people are missing, including British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, who was recently cleared of fraud charges over the sale of his company to Hewlett-Packard. On Wednesday, the bodies of five people were recovered from the sunken ship but have yet to be identified.
Fishermen saw a waterspout near the yacht shortly before it sank, and a nearby schooner was tossed about by what its captain, Karsten Borner, called a “hurricane gust,” which he believes capsized the Bayesian . Experts have said the conditions were ripe for a waterspout.
This extreme weather phenomenon occurs when warm, moist air rises rapidly over water, spinning as winds change direction at different heights. The result is a long, bending funnel of spray between the water and the clouds, tapering off as it rises as much as 10,000 feet into the heavens.
It comes in two flavors. The more vanilla kind is a fair weather waterspout , which forms in relatively calm and even sunny conditions, often under a billowy cumulus cloud. It happens more often in places like the Great Lakes and the Florida Keys, reaches wind speeds of 50 miles per hour, and usually breaks up before it can cause significant damage.
Then there are severe waterspouts, essentially tornadoes over water, which “are another beast” entirely, according to Wade Szilagyi, a retired forecaster at the Meteorological Service of Canada who now directs the International Center for Waterspout Research. These tornadic waterspouts can move from land to water, or vice versa, and twist at 125 miles per hour or more. They’ve been known to throw debris, rip apart buildings, and overturn boats.
A waterspout documented by Sioutas in Methoni, Greece, in 2004 picked up a boat and sent it sailing through the air, striking and killing a 10-year-old boy. Last year, a sudden storm and waterspout with winds of over 40 miles per hour overturned a tourist boat carrying off-duty intelligence agents on Italy’s Lake Maggiore, killing four. Sioutas says waterspouts can even generate “massive water displacements similar to tsunamis,” citing the gigantic waves that struck the coast of the Greek island of Samos during a 2004 cyclone, tossing boulders like toys.
Tornadic waterspouts spring up only in stormy weather with strong winds, lightning, and sometimes hail, and are the product of two main ingredients: wind shear and rising, unstable air. The process begins when masses of cold and warm air collide. This brings together winds from different directions that start to spin around each other, creating vortices. If a thunderstorm also converges in the area, it can provide the instability, sucking warm air up into itself at dizzying speeds. Over water, it starts carrying moisture up as well. Szilagyi compares the waterspout’s development to a twirling figure skater.
“You can think of the skater, if she just spins around normally, that’s like the little vortex that’s already started,” he says. “But if she brings her arms in, then that’s like the column of that unstable warm air, pulling, stretching that vortex upward. She starts to spin faster.”
Waterspouts have been known and feared since ancient times. In the 1550s in Malta, a waterspout plowed through the harbor of Valletta, reportedly destroying an armada of warships and killing hundreds of people. It’s even thought that old stories of fish or frogs raining down on land may be the product of waterspouts sweeping the creatures up into the clouds.
Now global warming may be supercharging the phenomenon. The International Panel on Climate Change has not found a definite link—there hasn’t been much research into how climate change may be affecting waterspouts—but experts say that the conditions for waterspouts to form are happening more often. A 2022 study of 234 waterspouts in the Spanish Mediterranean over the past three decades found that they were more likely to break out when the sea surface was warmer, especially above 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit). And water temperatures are now at unprecedented levels.
Last year was the warmest on record for the ocean. The heat content of the upper 6,500 feet of the seas was the highest ever seen. The seas broke temperature records every single day between May 2023 and May 2024. Marine heat waves struck areas from Antarctica to the Mediterranean.
“Warmer oceans have more energy and more humidity to transfer to the atmosphere, the most important fuels for storms,” says Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorological Society. “The contrast of warm sea and colder air that flows over energizes vertical winds that could result in downbursts or waterspouts.” (A downburst is a powerful cascade of wind and rain from a thundercloud.)
That perfect storm of waterspout conditions hit Italy around the time the Bayesian sank. In recent days, a mass of high-level cold air has swept down from the Alps and over the country’s western coast, meeting the exceptionally warm air just above the sea surface. Four days before the Bayesian went down, sea surface temperatures were the hottest ever recorded across the Mediterranean Sea, with a daily median of 28.71 degrees Celsius. The ocean near where the Bayesian was anchored has reached almost 30 degrees Celsius this week, four degrees higher than the 20-year summer average, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Cold and warm air clashed. Winds started spinning, and overheated water provided the ingredient of instability needed for a waterspout outbreak. As a result, a total of 28 waterspouts were documented off the western coast of Italy from August 17 to August 20, according to the International Center for Waterspout Research.
The total number of waterspouts reported has been increasing in recent years, although a major factor has been that more people are able to capture them with phone cameras and post them on social media, Szilagyi says. But he says that warming waters and a longer waterspout season due to climate change are also contributing. In particular, he believes the number of severe waterspouts are on the rise.
“With the increased water temperatures, that’s probably resulting in more frequent tornadic waterspouts,” Szilagyi says. “There’s no scientific evidence yet that they’re getting even stronger. It’s just that they’re becoming more frequent.”
Warming sea waters are also expected to boost other extreme weather events like Mediterranean hurricanes, or “medicanes,” one of which contributed to the flash flood that killed thousands of people in Libya last year .
In this brave new world, countries need to improve early-warning systems and invest more in research to forecast and observe trends in waterspouts, scientists say. “We have to prepared for more dangerous waterspouts possibly in the future,” Sioutas says. “Significantly warmer waters contribute very significantly to the creation of waterspouts, especially the violent ones.”
Updated 8-22-2024 1:15 pm BST: A previous version of the story stated that the ship’s mast had snapped; this detail has been removed as damage to the mast has not been confirmed.
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Fifteen other people were rescued. Expert divers were called in to carry out search operations in the deep water. Among the missing was a British software mogul, Mike Lynch.
By Elisabetta Povoledo
At least one person was killed and six others, including a British software mogul, were missing on Monday after a sailing yacht carrying 22 people sank during a violent storm off the coast of Sicily, Italian officials said.
The yacht sank after a storm “with strong winds” struck around 5 a.m., according to Luciano Pischedda, the Italian Coast Guard official overseeing the rescue operations. The vessel had been anchored about a half-mile off Porticello, about 12 miles east of the Sicilian capital, Palermo.
Camper & Nicholsons, managers of the sailing yacht, said in an emailed statement that there were 12 guests and 10 crew onboard.
The authorities have yet to determine what caused the yacht to sink. “This will be ascertained later,” Mr. Pischedda said, adding that several crew members were in the hospital and had not spoken to investigators.
Among the dead and missing, four were British, two were American, and one was a man with dual citizenship from Canada and Antigua, he said.
One of those unaccounted for is Mike Lynch, a British software mogul who was acquitted in the United States in June of fraud, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.
His wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued. Mr. Lynch, who once was described as Britain’s Bill Gates, had fought for more than a decade against accusations that he had defrauded Hewlett-Packard when he sold it his company, Autonomy, for $11 billion. The legal battle represented one of the biggest fraud cases in Silicon Valley history.
Salvatore Cocina, a top official with Sicily’s civil protection agency, said that Mr. Lynch’s daughter, Hannah Lynch, was also among the six people missing. All were passengers on the yacht, the Coast Guard said.
Mr. Cocina said the body that had been recovered was that of the yacht’s cook.
A passenger ship sailing under the flag of the Netherlands, the Sir Robert Baden Powell, anchored nearby, provided immediate assistance to the 15 surviving passengers, Mr. Pischedda said.
Karsten Börner, the captain of the Sir Robert, said in a telephone interview that he’d had to steady his ship to “keep it in position” during what he described as very strong winds. During the storm, the yacht seemed to disappear, he said. “At a certain moment she was gone behind us,” he said.
After the wind dropped down, “we couldn’t see the yacht any more, and then we saw a red flare,” he added. When he and a colleague went to check out the flare’s position, they spotted a “life raft adrift with 15 people on board, one of them a baby and four people injured,” he said. They were taken aboard the Sir Robert and Captain Börner contacted the Coast Guard, which brought the survivors to shore.
Captain Börner said he didn’t know when the ship went down because the storm made it difficult to see clearly. The wind was “really violent,” he said.
For the most part, the survivors didn’t speak much he said. “They were all under shock,” he said. “It was a bad, bad situation.”
Monday’s storm surprised experts with its intensity.
Col. Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, said the agency had registered intense lightning activity and strong gusts of wind in the area at the time of the accident.
“It was very intense and brief in duration,” he said of the storm. He could not rule out that it had been a waterspout, or small tornado, but nevertheless called it “an important event.”
Italy’s firefighter corps said that its divers had started carrying out a search and rescue mission at dawn.
On Monday afternoon, expert divers with the firefighter corps arrived in Porticello to search the sunken vessel, which was under about 165 feet of water.
Operations at that depth, were “complicated,” and required specialized divers, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for the firefighters.
Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman in Porticello, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that he saw a waterspout — a sort of mini-tornado — that lasted “about 12 minutes” off the shore of Porticello shortly before 4 a.m.
Around 4:10, he said he saw a red flare go off “about 500 meters from the shore.” He said he waited for the weather to calm down, and went out about 20 minutes later to the site where the flare had gone off.
“We found only the cushions, and a few planks” floating in the water, he told the newspaper. There was no sign of the ship, and he immediately called the coast guard.
The boat, identified by Italian officials as the Bayesian, is an Italian-made 56-meter-long sailing yacht first launched in 2008, according to the website marinetraffic.com , which tracks ships. It sails under the flag of Britain, and was built by Perini Navi, an Italian luxury yacht maker.
Eight of the 15 passengers who were rescued were taken to hospitals in Palermo, the coast guard said. Camper & Nicholsons, the managers of the yacht, said its priority was to “provide all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew.”
Giuseppe D’Agostino, the mayor of Santa Flavia, which includes Porticello, said the survivors would be cared for at a local hotel. The city had also brought them immediate necessities, like toiletries and clothes.
He said in a telephone interview that he had not spoken to the survivors since “they’re in shock.”
The youngest passenger onboard, a 1-year-old girl named Sophie, was taken to the Di Cristina hospital in Palermo with her mother, Charlotte, who had some scrapes and cuts, said Domenico Cipolla, director of the pediatric emergency room at the hospital.
Sophie’s father was in the hospital’s adult emergency room and had been in contact with his wife and daughter by phone, Dr. Cipolla said. He was not permitted to release the family’s surname. Both mother and child were in good condition apart from “great emotional stress” he added in a telephone interview.
“We’re comforting them more than curing them,” he said.
Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years. More about Elisabetta Povoledo
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The yacht sank after a small waterspout - a type of tornado - spun over the Mediterranean island, likely capsizing the boat, which was anchored about a half a mile from the port of Porticello.
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The coast guard reported the yacht was struck by a tornado, and a waterspout was reported to the European Severe Weather Database around the same time. Storms that day resulted in at least two ...
Eyewitnesses said the yacht vanished quickly beneath the waves shortly before dawn. Fifteen people escaped before it went down, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a ...
One man has died and six people are missing after a luxury yacht sank in freak weather conditions off the coast of Sicily. The 56m British-flagged Bayesian was carrying 22 people - 12 passengers ...
Fishermen saw a waterspout near the yacht shortly before it sank, ... Greece, in 2004 picked up a boat and sent it sailing through the air, striking and killing a 10-year-old boy.
The boat, identified by Italian officials as the Bayesian, is an Italian-made 56-meter-long sailing yacht first launched in 2008, according to the website marinetraffic.com, which tracks ships. It ...