The freak storm which ripped across the Island overnight on Thursday caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to boats.

Mariners said the winds were as destructive as Hurricane Emily in 1987, the most devastating storm in recent memory, and they insisted there was no adequate warning from Bermuda Weather Service.

The East End was badly affected with four boats sunk in St. George's, 11 damaged, and another two were so badly smashed they were written off.

And in Bailey's Bay, six more vessels were sunk, eight were stranded on the rocks and a further four were lilting, damaged in the water.

Harbour Radio also reported a 22-foot vessel broke her moorings in Flatts, a 20-foot boat dragged her moorings in Jew's Bay, battering another craft, the 36-foot Nell ran aground at Paget Island, and 25 foot Memorabilia was taking on water in Mills Creek.

Boats used by Fantasea Diving at the Sonesta Beach Hotel and Nautilus Diving at the Whaler Inn, Southampton, were damaged when storm surges forced them out the water.

Boat owners in St. George's had heartbreaking tales to tell yesterday of vessels that sank, others that were towed miles away on the winds to be stranded on the rocks, and one sailor who lived on his boat lost all his possessions.

Paul Lavine's 25 foot sailboat Ondien was ripped from her moorings in St. George's Harbour and dragged miles away to crash onto the rocks at Longbird Bridge.

He told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "There was no warning of what we were going to get. I don't think anyone could have predicted it.

"It just happened and I suppose you could relate it to the Perfect Storm if you wanted to name it. I know they haven't named it a hurricane (64 knots or more) but I bet it blew 100."

Mr. Lavine and Geoff Cabral, whose personal belongings were lost in his 28-foot sailboat Delphinus, spent the night in the home of Steve Hollis of Ocean Sails in St. George's.

Mr. Cabral's boat, which he lived on, began taking on water and he moved it to a private slip after it slipped its moorings in Convict Bay. "I lost everything I own, all my clothing, pictures, books, passports, the whole lot," he said.

American Dan Blajda's 18-foot sailboat sank at 2 a.m. yesterday in St. George's Harbour when the storm was at its height. He had only sailed it once.

He said yesterday: "I feel like a boater in Bermuda now! I'm quite relieved its sank because I should be able to get it back up. I'm told people here sink their boats when hurricanes are approaching."

Mr. Hollis said he felt the storm caused as much damage to St. George's as Hurricane Emily.

"A lot of boats have broken loose on the rocks, there have been others breaking on top of other boats, and there's a lot of ripped sails. There's been a lot of scatter action to fend boats up," he said.

"This was one of these storms that just built and built and built and no one knew it was coming. It certainly wasn't predicted (by Bermuda Weather Service), and fortunately last night we did manage to do some damage control earlier, but I didn't know it would blow like that.

"We thought it would be 40 knots, but Harbour Radio was saying sustained 65 knot winds. We had over 70 knot gusts and that I've never seen in a non-hurricane.

"I normally look at the weather all the time, but I was busy and didn't, but when I looked at the satellite pictures yesterday I went `holy smoke'. That was definitely a serious little system.

"I reckon the damage has got to be close to Emily, maybe not with the roofs, but with the trees and boat damage. Emily was in and gone, but this one stuck around."

Marie Smith, a resident of Crawl, was surveying the damage at Bailey's Bay. She pointed out a number of boats that had been damaged or sunk, including one where only its antenna was visible.

Of the storm, Mrs. Smith said: "It seems to be worse than Emily - it just came from nowhere."

Mrs. Smith, who was driving across the Causeway Bridge, during the height of the storm on Thursday, said: "The water was coming right across the Causeway. Buses were stalled, cars couldn't move. In all my 65 years, I have never seen anything like it."

At Bailey's Bay, an electronic fish finder and plotter had been blown from its boat and up on to a wall.

Local glass bottom boat operator Beau Evans, who owns the Coral Sea, was on board visiting with the Willow Street crew. Mr. Evans said there had been little damage to his boat. But, that overall, St. George's had been badly hit: "Boats were sinking all over the place - the storm was a complete surprise for everybody."

Mr. Evans added: "If we had known these winds were coming, we could have done something. It helps to know, as you get your friends in, and secure the boats."

Mr. Evans said he was not criticising the Bermuda Weather Service, which had shown vast improvement since it was taken over by Serco.