Bill Bleyer
About five years ago, Connor Needham got to thinking.
He’s a third-generation boatbuilder, part of the family that owns and operates Coecles Harbor Marina & Boatyard on Shelter Island, New York. It’s a facility that came to a lot of people’s attention back in the mid-1990s, when musician Billy Joel and naval architect Doug Zurn collaborated on a 38-footer that was
Joel’s first day cruiser. The Piano Man had a sizable fleet of powerboats at the time, and this one turned heads.
Since then, the yard has produced 56 hulls. But the mid-1990s are now 30 years ago. It was time to develop another version of the original design, a boat that would reflect current boating habits and preferences. The result, with Connor as the driving force behind it, is a striking open-bow model, the Shelter Island 38 FS. Its moniker stands for “forward seating.” This model launched quietly just over a year ago and is generating buzz wherever it’s spotted, given its striking lines and pedigree.
In fact, interest has been so positive that Coecles Harbor is planning to splash a hardtop version this summer.
Design Inspiration
Florence and Peter H. Needham purchased Coecles Harbor boatyard in 1973. Their sons, Peter J. and John, own and run the family yard today. Connor is Peter J.’s son.
“I was looking at what people were coming out with on the market and saw a trend towards more seating and people using the bow for entertainment purposes,” Connor says. “The original runabout design was built for the commuter/overnighter, but we saw that a lot of the owners were just going out for the day. There was an opportunity to build something different that utilizes all 38 feet of the boat for entertainment and day-boating.”
He started to design the new model in late 2020. He went through seven or eight concepts, trying to achieve every requirement on his list. “There were to be no steps going from the bow to the stern,” he says. “I wanted to preserve the original lines of the runabout, so when the boat’s out on the water, from a side profile, it still looks the same.”
Connor says he sacrificed cabin space for the open bow because, generally speaking, boaters used that cabin space to stow bags or other things. Nowadays, he says, “No one’s using the cabin for its intended purpose.”
He next modeled the design to ensure the flow worked and the spacing was right. Then the team at Coecles brought in Zurn to do the construction drawings.
A friend of Connor’s mentioned the new design to a New York City resident who summered on Shelter Island. He called Connor in 2023 to say he was interested in the open-bow model.
“I grew up in France mostly and got excited about the Coecles Harbor boats because they look very similar to a boat from the region I come from, which is the southwest, near Bordeaux. It’s a traditional style,” says the buyer, who asked to remain anonymous. “So I went to see them, and we started talking. We had a 27-foot Chris-Craft at the time, but we’re a family with three kids and a big dog. We were often kind of squished in the back.”
He agreed to purchase the first boat for $1.2 million, including a financial investment in the design that will bring him royalties on future production. Since the launching in 2024, he’s used the boat for two seasons.
“It’s above expectations in terms of practicality,” he says. “The kids all go sit in the front, and all the grownups are in the back where it’s a little quieter. Even when it’s blowing, the bow is well-protected from the wind and the waves.”
Hull No. 2 of the Shelter Island 38 FS is now in production, and it will be a hardtop version. It’s scheduled to launch this summer for a customer in Florida.
A Long Time Coming
Coecles Harbor Marina & Boatyard has come a long way since Florence and Peter H. Needham purchased it more than a half century ago. At the time, they were raising their two boys, who always had boats and did a lot of sailing and racing in Hempstead Harbor. The boys went to work at the family business as young men and continued working when they could during college. Decades later, they took over the business.
Connor and his brother, Schuyler, are the next generation being groomed to take over the family legacy. Schuyler says he can still remember the business getting its big break.
“We had bought the deck and hull of a Bermuda 40 from Bob Hinckley,” he says. “After we built that, the yard saw a lot of Hinckleys and other high-end boats for repairs and storage. Our customers understood that if we could build that type of boat, we could care for someone else’s nice things. And then along the line, there were other boats that were built. Alexa was one of the most noteworthy ones.”
Alexa was Joel’s 36-footer patterned after a swordfishing boat and launched in 1992. Several years later, Joel and the yard collaborated again, this time on the 38 Shelter Island Runabout.
“I wanted a vessel that could go from point A to point B quickly,” Joel said at the time, “but I didn’t want a Cigarette boat that made a lot of noise.” The hull was fabricated in Maine and fitted out at Coecles Harbor.
The Shelter Island Runabout premiered at the Newport International Boat Show in 1996 with a price starting at $250,000. Combining elements of a Maine lobster boat, a PT boat and a Prohibition rumrunner, it made waves. Joel kept the first hull, Nomad, and the builder used it for marketing and sea trials. Joel, a Long Island native, came up with the project to help keep alive the region’s dwindling boatbuilding industry.
The runabout was constructed with an infusion process to limit weight. Its hull was Kevlar, the superstructure was fiberglass, and hatches were by North End Composites of Rockland, Maine. Joel retained ownership of the hull mold and got a percentage of each sale. The modified-V hull was powered by twin 415-hp MerCruiser sterndrives, with a top speed of about 55 mph.
Since then, the Needhams have fielded many requests for a larger version of the runabout. They built a Zurn-designed 50-footer in 1999 and then started construction on a 57-foot commuter yacht for Joel named Vendetta.
That boat ultimately launched from Derecktor Shipyard in Mamaroneck, New York, in July 2005, leaving room at Coecles Harbor for all the runabout orders to be built.
Ambrose Clancy
The Next Generation
Schuyler Needham, 35, is a Webb Institute graduate who joined the family business in 2014 after working in the oil and gas industry in Germany. Connor, 33, sailed competitively at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, before working as a sailing coach for Middlebury College in Vermont and Boston University. He joined the family operation in 2017.
“We split duties,” Schuyler says. “My brother winds up being kind of the more hands-on one, and I tend to be the paperwork, customer kind of liaison.”
Overall, Coecles Harbor employs about 25 people year-round, with extra summer hires at the marina. It has 60 slips and 46 moorings, about two-thirds for seasonal renters and the rest for transients. Maintenance and small-craft refits are a big part of the business, too.
One recent refit customer bought hull No. 12 of the runabout, a 1999 launch. It was in need of serious love, including new 370-hp V-8 Yanmar diesels for a top speed of about 53 mph.
“The customer also wanted to change the boat from a soft top to a hardtop, which is a pretty big modification,” Schuyler says. “We’ll change the color, and he’ll get new upholstery, so it’s going to make a pretty big facelift from where it started.
“People typically come here to have work done,” Schuyler adds. “We’re more interested in doing work that we can be proud of and showcase what we’re capable of.”
This article was originally published in the February 2026 issue
