from Hacker News

Mike Lynch among missing after yacht sinks off Sicily

by brunohaid on 8/19/24, 2:17 PM with 21 comments

  • by aimazon on 8/19/24, 2:30 PM

    Sells company for billions, accused of inflating the value of the company, sued, found not guilty, uses money from sale to buy boat, names boat after the company that he (allegedly) inflated the value of, dies in a boat accident 2 months later. Perhaps the universe wasn't happy with the court's conclusion in the fraud case or just has a sense of humour.

  • by djaouen on 8/19/24, 11:56 PM

    After graduating from college in 2010, I was offered a position at Autonomy. I decided to turn it down based on the... less-than-stellar reviews on GlassDoor, et al. I know all companies have their foibles, but the reviews there made it seem like the company was a cult run by a charismatic leader (aka, Mike Lynch). I instead took a local job paying me nearly half what Autonomy offered me (although I did learn a ton at that job). My parents looked at me like I was crazy to turn down a nearly six-figure entry-level position.

    That being said, I hope they find him. :(

  • by downvotetruth on 8/19/24, 3:02 PM

    But what about the ludes?

  • by Kon-Peki on 8/19/24, 9:20 PM

    > Witnesses say the boat's mast snapped in half and later became unbalanced

    I notice on Wikipedia that Perini Navi built (at least) 10 of these yachts. 9 of them listed on Wikipedia are ketch rigged, 1 sloop rigged.

    A ketch has two masts with the "front" one taller than the "rear" one. This type of setup spreads the total sail area over two main sails and the location of the masts gives the boat good balance in heavy wind.

    A sloop uses a single mast, with a single main sail that must cover the same (or similar) sail area as the total sail area of the two main sails on the ketch. The mast is much taller than either of the ketch masts, and it should be located in a different spot than either of the ketch masts would be.

    ...the sloop-rigged one sank.

  • by ishtanbul on 8/19/24, 3:29 PM

    Awkward name for the boat

  • by hilux on 8/24/24, 1:55 AM

    Fisker must be back in business!