Three Gold Cup sailors required medical treatment yesterday morning after their boats were struck by lightning.

Americans Mark Ivey, Karl Anderson and Eric Booth were all competing in Group A?s second flight when a sudden and powerful squall swept across Hamilton Harbour ? a storm which produced torrential rain and high winds for over half an hour.

Ivey and Anderson ? crew members of English skipper Chris Law ? were both below deck on the boat sheltering from the rain when a bolt of lightning struck the mast, sending sparks flying from the mast step and electric shocks through both of them.

Defending Gold Cup champion James Spithill was also onboard at the time as both he and Law were swapping boats after their second-flight race ? though neither skippers was hurt.

Booth, meanwhile, was in the process of completing a race when his boat was hit ? with the force of the explosion knocking him off his feet as he stood on the foredeck.

The injured trio were immediately brought back to the Gold Cup?s base at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and sent to see a doctor ? though they complained only of feeling light-headed and some muscle soreness.

The strike caused some minor damage to however, after the electrical charge travelled down the forestay and exited the boat through the hull ? leaving an inch-wide hole just above the waterline.

?I was up on the foredeck ? we were still racing at the time and just about to cross the finish line,? explained Booth, who is living proof that lightning does strike twice after experiencing a similar incident in 1999 while at a collegiate regatta in the US.

?All of a sudden there was this bang and I was pushed backwards onto my backside. It felt like somebody had just hit me in the face. Obviously it was a bit of a shock and I felt completely disorientated. I feel OK now, though my body aches quite a lot ? as if I?ve just done a very hard workout.

?But I?m taking the rest of the day off and hopefully I?ll feel a bit better tomorrow.?

According to Sean McNeil, media manager for the World Match Racing Tour of which the Gold Cup is a part, lightning strikes are virtually unheard of in close-to-the-shore sailing.

?It?s certainly not uncommon in long-distance, trans-Atlantic races,? he said.

?But for inshore racing like this it is highly unusual and we?re just glad that nobody was seriously hurt. The squall came out of nowhere really and certainly wasn?t forecast ? we were expecting good weather all day with winds between eight to 12 knots which is pretty perfect.

?The rain wasn?t really a problem, but the winds in that half an hour or so were definitely not expected and hopefully we can get through the rest of the week without anything similar.?