The sister of Hannah Lynch - whose life was cut cruelly short when the yacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily - has described her as her best friend as tributes to the family continue to pour in.

Hannah joined parents Mike Lynch and Angela Bacares on the fateful Mediterranean voyage which claimed seven lives. Alongside her tech entrepreneur father she died in the tragedy earlier this month.

Hannah, 18, was a stellar student and due to attend Oxford University to study poetry. Her sister, Esme, 21, is reading physics at Imperial College London. 

Esme described how Hannah would burst into her bedroom "sometimes beaming with a smile, sometimes cheeky, sometimes for advice".

"No matter what, she brought boundless love to me," she said.

"She was endlessly caring, passionately mad, unintentionally hilarious and the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me.

"And on top of all this, she had even more love to give endlessly to all her friends and passion to give to her incredible studies and goals. She is my little angel, my star."

Family friend Albert Read spoke of Mike Lynch's "searing intellect" and his instinct for family and friends.

The businessman - who owned a farm near Pettistree, Wickham Market - had "a heart as big as his brain", he said, and was "warm, funny, brilliant, loyal and exceptionally brave".

He would organise children's treasure hunts and big gatherings of neighbours in Suffolk, he said.

Along with his wife, Angela, he had "a determination to light up the worlds of art and science for his two beloved daughters".

Susannah Gurdun - a close family friend from Suffolk - said she first met Mike Lynch at a dinner party in the county.

"I knew in advance that I was being placed next to some important big tech corporate alpha male - and frankly I was daunted. The man sounded terrifying.  What on earth would we talk about?

"Within a minute of sitting down, however, all my fears evaporated.  Because of course I discovered that Mike is so much more than the corporate cliché. He was riveting. 

"He was funny, and kind, and endlessly interesting; capable of talking about anything and everything."

She can no longer recall what they discussed - only that it had nothing to do with technology or companies or stocks or litigation and it would have been about ideas and people.

"He also had the thrilling ability - and beautiful clarity of mind - to make difficult and complicated concepts accessible to those of us less blessed with science acumen," she said.

"In particular, he was wonderful with children.  I will never forget hearing him explain to a group of them - including our 10-year-old son - the physics of why the sky went pink at sunset. 

"We were on the boat after a beautiful day.  He was using a half-peeled orange as a visual aid.  They sat like little sparrows, fixed to his every word."

He visited her family in Spain and she recalled how he invented a "magical" story to entertain her young son.

"As Mike concluded his story - with the candles burning low, and the children’s eyes bright with rapt attention - I had a glimpse of his phenomenal creative range," she said.

She was not surprised to learn that Hannah has shown serious literary promise.

"It is beyond tragic that we will never know where her own particular brilliance might have led - but I still feel blessed to have shared that time with them in Spain," she said.