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An eye witness to the sinking of British tech entrepreneur\u00a0Mike Lynch<\/a>\u2018s yacht on Monday attributed the tragedy to the extremely tall mast, which made the vessel more vulnerable to the violent storm that was lashing the area.<\/p>\n Dutch ship captain Karsten B\u00f6rner, whose own boat was anchored near Lynch\u2019s Bayesian<\/em>, told the Financial Times<\/em><\/a> that the superyacht appeared to have stability problems.<\/p>\n \u201cThe center of gravity is too high with this extreme mast,\u201d he explained, while also dismissing the Italian coast guard\u2019s initial view that the Bayesian<\/em> was in the wrong place at the wrong time.<\/p>\n \u201cI was on the same spot,\u201d B\u00f6rner added. \u201cI have two masts and they are 28 and 29 meters above deck, she has one, 73 meters (239.5 feet) above deck.\u201d<\/p>\n Authorities are looking into\u00a0possible reasons Lynch\u2019s\u00a0yacht quickly sank<\/a>, when other boats nearby seemed to weather the same storm without issue.<\/p>\n The 56-meter long superyacht had been carrying 22 passengers and crew.\u00a0B\u00f6rner rescued 15 passengers and said they told him the ship sank in less than two minutes.<\/p>\n He also described the wind as \u201cviolent, very violent,\u201d telling the FT<\/em> that the wind speed likely reached hurricane strength as \u201ctons of water\u201d came down.<\/p>\n \u201cI never saw that before, there was a water tornado,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The CEO of the Italian Sea<\/a> Group, which owns the company that built the Bayesian<\/em>, previously told the FT<\/em> that it was designed to be stable with its tall mast and suggested the crew didn\u2019t carry out proper safety measures.<\/p>\n But B\u00f6rner said the crew told him they \u201cclosed the ship,\u201d according to the FT<\/em>. <\/p>\n The Italian Sea Group didn\u2019t immediately respond to Fortune\u2019s<\/em> request for comment on B\u00f6rner\u2019s remarks and declined to comment to the FT<\/em>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, prosecutors in Italy have launched a probe into the shipwreck<\/a> and multiple counts of culpable homicide, which are equivalent to manslaughter charges.<\/p>\n The Italian coast guard also confirmed Friday that it had recovered the body of Lynch\u2019s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. In addition to Lynch and his daughter, the other victims included\u00a0Morgan Stanley<\/a>\u00a0International chair Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, American jewelry designer Neda Morvillo; and chef Recaldo Thomas.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Italian prosecutors told reporters that the emergency began at 4:38 a.m. local time<\/a>, when a red flare was launched and seen by the coast guard, adding that the passengers were likely asleep at the time.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Deputy prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano told reporters\u00a0that a crew member had been on duty, as required, when the \u201ctruly sudden\u201d storm struck.<\/p>\n Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio\u00a0<\/strong>said ship-tracking data showed the yacht started to drift from anchor just before 4 a.m., then traveled about 360 meters over five minute to the spot where it eventually sank some 15 minutes after that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>High-level insights for high-powered executives. Subscribe to the CEO Daily newsletter for free today. Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/div>\n