A ship captain told yesterday how a mysterious lightning strike crippled his yacht 40 miles off of Bermuda.

Captain Edson Hazell said his 62-foot Amulet was sailing in beautiful calm weather on Friday afternoon when the lighting strike - "like a ball of fire" - hit the mast and knocked out all the electric equipment.

Even the yacht's compass went haywire and the seven crew had no idea which direction they were heading until they came across an oil tanker around 6 p.m.

The tanker told the crewwhich direction to head for Bermuda and they steered a straight line, arriving at the Island at 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Capt. Hazell told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the yacht, which was sailing from Bermuda to Newport, Rhode Island, suffered $100,000 of damage.

The ship's satellite telephone, radar, global positioning system, compass, wind navigation equipment, and one engine were knocked out. The second engine survived intact because it was off at the time recharging the batteries.

"We were about 40 miles off Bermuda and the weather was really nice, no problems, and everything was under control when all of a sudden this big lightening crashed into us," he said yesterday.

"It was so bright it was like a ball of fire and it starts burning out all the equipment. The engine cut right out, so did the autopilot and the compass was running round and round in circles.

"I tried turning the boat around to see if the compass would pick up, but nothing. All the equipment that was on the mast was out. I've never seen anything like it, it was like a bomb dropping on the middle of the boat."

Capt. Hazell said he bought a small GPS and VHF radio in Bermuda and hopes to set sail for Newport today, where the electronics will be repaired.