3 rescued after wind capsizes sailboat

Three men were rescued by Suffolk police after a strong gust of wind capsized their sailboat on the Long Island Sound off Huntington, Suffolk police said.

A Lloyd Harbor man saw the 23-foot Pierson sailboat capsize from the back yard of his Seacrest Drive home and called 911 and broadcast the incident on marine radio, police said.

The boat had capsized about 6:30 p.m. 300 yards or so north of Target Rock in Huntington, police said.

Suffolk Marine Bureau Officers Charles Marchiselli and Michael O'Leary heard the marine radio notification and responded within three minutes, police said.

All three men were pulled out of the water inside a minute of the officers' arrival, police said.

The boat's operator, Stephen Cozey, 22, of Syosset, and his two passengers, Matt Kruger, 22, of Syosset, and Trevor Howard, 21, of Key West, Fla., were not injured, police said.

They were not wearing life jackets, police said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Huntington Harbormaster also responded.

The capsizing came as a thunderstorm moved through eastern Nassau and Suffolk counties Tuesday evening, dropping heavy rain and bringing winds as high as 40 mph, the National Weather Service said.