“Below Deck ”Captain Doesn't Believe Conspiracies About How “Bayesian” Sank, Offers His Insight into Tragedy

Glenn Shephard acknowledged just how dangerous severe weather can be on the water on 'Impact X Nightline’s Gone In 16 Minutes: Sinking of The Superyacht'

ABC Below Deck's Glenn Shephard Weighs In on Bayesian Tragedy IMPACT x Nightline: Gone in 16 Minutes: Sinking of the Superyacht

ABC

Below Deck's Glenn Shephard Weighs In on Bayesian Tragedy IMPACT x Nightline: Gone in 16 Minutes: Sinking of the Superyacht

Below Deck star Captain Glenn Shephard is offering his insight into the sinking of Bayesian, the superyacht that capsized off the coast of Italy in August, killing seven people.

Shephard has spent five seasons at the helm of Parsifal III on Below Deck Sailing Yacht, one of several spin-offs from the original Bravo reality series.

Parsifal III is made by the same yachtmaker as the Bayesian — Perini Navi, which was purchased at the end of 2021 by The Italian Sea Group. CEO Giovanni Costantino has suggested that Bayesian was designed to be “unsinkable.”

But investigators have determined that a downburst (not a tornado, as previously reported) impacted the superyacht as it sat off the coast of Sicily on the morning of Aug. 19, according to Impact X Nightline.

 Fred Jagueneau/Bravo Glenn Shephard ahead of Season 5 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, which airs on Bravo.

Fred Jagueneau/Bravo

Glenn Shephard ahead of Season 5 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, which airs on Bravo.

Related: Brother of Sicily Yacht Sinking Victim Still Thinks About the Passengers' Final Moments: ‘It’s Terrifying’ (Exclusive)

Appearing on Impact X Nightline’s Gone In 16 Minutes: Sinking of The Superyacht, Shephard pushed back against conspiracy theories circulating in the months since the sinking.

“A downburst? I don’t think you can conspire that,” Shephard said on the episode, which premiered Thursday, Nov. 14, exclusively on Hulu. “And to me, that’s what happened.”

Perini Navi yachts “have a very distinctive style,” according to Shephard, who has been a captain on sailing yachts for two decades.

Most of these sailboats, he said, are what are known as “ketches,” meaning they have two masts.

Related: Acquitted of Fraud, Mike Lynch Was Elated but 'Struggling to Accept' New Reality Before Yacht Sinking, Reporter Says

“The main difference between Bayesian and the other Perini Navis [is] she only had one mast,” Shephard explained.

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Bayesian’s mast was also among the tallest in the world at 240 feet, according to Impact X Nightline.

ABC The Bayesian before it sank in August 2024.

ABC

The Bayesian before it sank in August 2024.

Downbursts are “strong localized downdrafts” that fan out on the Earth’s surface as “straight-line winds,” according to the National Weather Service.

On Impact X Nightline, Elizabeth Smith of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said these winds can be incredibly destructive and "high impact phenomena when they are strong."

Related: Eerie Video Shows Divers Searching Inside Sunken Sicily Yacht as Investigation Into What Happened Continues

Shephard acknowledged just how dangerous severe weather can be on the water, having sailed through storms in the Mediterranean himself.

“You can predict a thunderstorm but you can’t predict the conditions you will have," he explained on the episode. "Sometimes there’s hurricane winds, and I’ve seen [winds] go from [no wind] to 65 knots in the Sea of Naples in 15 minutes."

ABC Glenn Shephard has been on

ABC

Glenn Shephard has been on "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" for five seasons.

Related: Victims of Sicily Yacht Tragedy Formally Identified, Authorities Say Some Were Searching for Air Pockets in Final Moments

An investigation into the sinking of Bayesian is ongoing.

Three crew members — the captain, machine engineer and the sailor on watch the night of the incident — remain under investigation for manslaughter and culpable shipwreck, according to Impact X Nightline.