Pictured: Hero Brit mom who saved child from yacht capsizing

This is the brave British mother who fought to save her one-year-old baby’s life after they were thrown off the sinking Bayesian superyacht in raging seas off Sicily. 

Charlotte Golunski, 36, and her young daughter Sophia were two of 22 people aboard Brit tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht when it was battered in a storm before sinking a few hundred metres from the port of Porticello, near Palermo, at about 4:30am this morning.

Mr Lynch remains missing while his wife Angela Bacares, 57, was rescued as a search operation continues for five more missing tourists. 

Speaking to Italian press after their rescue, Charlotte explained the horror she experienced as her child slipped from her arms when they went overboard.

‘For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.

‘I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning,’ she added.

‘It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.’

Charlotte, who is now in Palermo’s Children’s Hospital with her baby receiving treatment for a minor shoulder injury, described the ordeal as ‘terrible’ and detailed how ‘in a few minutes the boat was hit by a very strong wind and sank shortly after… (We were) terrified by the thunder, the lightning, the waves that made our boat lurch.’

She added that her family had survived because they were on the deck when the ship began to sink, rather than trapped in the cabins below.

Harrowing details of this morning’s events are emerging as divers continue their desperate search for six missing tourists in the wreck of the superyacht, 160ft underwater off the coast of Sicily. 

Tragically, the body of a man – believed to be a Canadian national who was working as the boat’s chef – was found floating alongside the vessel earlier today.

There are fears that those who are still missing became trapped in their cabins, with divers earlier reporting that they saw ‘bodies through the portholes’ of the yacht, according to Italian media.

The luxury vessel was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, early this morning when a freak storm hit the area, with witnesses describing how a ‘whirlwind’ hit, wrecking the boat and causing it to rapidly disappear beneath the waves. 

Fifteen of the 22 people on board, including one-year-old Sophia and her parents, were saved by a nearby vessel after they miraculously managed to inflate a lifeboat and clamber aboard.

The Sir Robert BP, a Dutch ship which had been anchored close to the Bayesian, sailed in to the rescue.

Karsten Borner, the captain of the boat, has described how his vessel was battered by strong gusts, with his team working to stabilise it and manoeuvre it to avoid hitting the Bayesian nearby.

‘We managed to keep the ship in position, and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone,’ he said.

Once the storm subsided, Borner said he and his first mate noticed a flare in the water, and made their way towards it.

There they found the lifeboat with those who had escaped inside, including the one-year-old baby. 

The passengers on board were mainly British, according to reports, while citizens from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Canada, the US and two dual British and French nationals were also said to be on board.

The group are reported to have been tourists on holiday in Sicily, and it is feared that those missing may have been trapped inside their cabins.

The vessel was still at anchor near the port when the tornado struck, witnesses told Italian news agency ANSA.

With the anchor still down, the storm broke the mast, causing the vessel to lose its balance and capsize, according to reports.

The Italian Coastguard confirmed that a nearby boat offered assistance to people before emergency services arrived. 

A helicopter, coastguard vessels and firefighters have since been deployed to search the scene of the wreck for those who are still missing.

Expert divers have already reached the hull, 49 metres below the water and about half a mile from the coast, according to Italian media.

Nautical maps show the last known location of the Bayesian just after 2am local time, when it was at anchor.

The boat is thought to have arrived in Porticello after a stopping in Milazzo, around 100 miles up the coast towards the Italian mainland.

A local Facebook page shared a picture of the two yachts at anchor last night, just hours before the high winds hit. 

‘That boat was all lit up,’ a man in Porticello told ANSA. ‘At around 4.30 in the morning it was gone.  A beautiful boat where there had been a party. A normal holiday spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy. 

‘The boat was not far from the port. It took very little to raise the anchor and head for the port. Evidently they were surprised by the storm that suddenly hit and they were unable to avoid sinking.’ 

Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman who spotted the shipwrecked boat off the coast, said he called for help at 4.30 this morning.

‘At about 3.55 we saw the whirlwind. After a quarter of an hour we saw a rocket 500 metres away from the dock,’ he told Corriere.

‘At about 4.35 we went out to sea to provide assistance, but we only saw the remains of the boat floating. There were no men in the sea. So we immediately called the port authority.’

The vessel can accommodate 12 passengers and 10 crewmembers.

Coast guards patrol boats and firefighters brought those who were rescued to shore, and the survivors will be interviewed by authorities in the coming hours. 

None of the survivors are thought to be in a serious condition, with a few of them receiving treatment for minor injuries. 

All those who were not injured are expected to speak to the Coast Guard today as investigators seek to understand what happened.

The ship they were staying on is managed by Camper and Nicholson’s International, which says it is assisting in the search efforts.

The firm, which does not own the yacht, said in a statement that the boat encountered ‘severe weather and subsequently sank’.

‘Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew,’ a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson told the BBC that they are currently ‘dealing with a situation onboard one of [their] managed vessels’, but would not give any further details. 

The 180ft yacht has a gross tonnage of 473 tons, and was built by the Perini Navi Viareggio shipyard in February 2008 before being refitted in 2020.

The deck area is 436 square metres and the six cabins occupy an area of ​​143 square metres.

It comprises of an aluminum hull, and is powered by two large engines, allowing it to cruise at 12 knots and reach a maximum speed of 15 knots. 

The boat has the second tallest mast in the world and the largest aluminum mast of 75 metres.

Sicily is currently under a weather warning for wind, with video showing strong gusts battering the coast this morning.

CCTV footage from around 4am this morning shows a torrent of wind and rain slamming into Santa Nicolicchia – an area of Porticello where Bayesian was anchored.

The high winds throw umbrellas, plant pots, tables and chairs flying within seconds of hitting, with the local restaurant who shared the footage saying: ‘In a moment the hurricane took everything away!’

The owners of Baia Santa Nicolicchia said they were able to open later in the morning once the storm had passed, but added: ‘We have no memory of anything like this in our area.’

Shadow Foreign Minister for Europe, Alicia Kearns, wrote on X: ‘Desperately sorry to hear of the capsizing of the Bayesian – a heartbreaking incident.

‘My thoughts are with all the families of those lost at sea, and those recovering following the rescue operation, I’m sure the foreign office will be providing consular support to British Nationals and their families.’

The Foreign Office said in a statement: ‘We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily, and are in contact with the local authorities.’