When Casey and Justine Bellingham went looking for a family cruiser in 2021, they had no ambitions beyond comfortable coastal adventures. Fez, the boat they settled on, had other ideas.
A Warwick 50, designed by Alan Warwick and built by Bruce Warwick in Kerikeri during the mid-1980s, Fez is a genuine piece of New Zealand sailing heritage. Long, narrow, and deceptively quick to windward, the design has aged well. For Casey, the connection runs deeper than ownership. "Dad took me out to Alan Warwick's shed when I was about nine," he recalls. "I watched them stapling the planks upside-down. It's funny how life comes full circle." Three PIC Coastal Classics after that 2021 purchase, the circle closed emphatically when Fez claimed victory in the 2024 PIC Coastal Classic, not by being first across the line, but by winning where it counted most: on handicap. What began as a family cruiser had quietly become a race-winning all-rounder.
A sailmaker's edge
Casey's background as a sailmaker gives Fez a practical advantage. Over winter he constructed a new Spectra-panelled mainsail. Durability, not glamour, was the goal. "The main we won with last year was 30 years old," he says. "This one should hold its shape for another decade. I could've gone high-performance, but I wanted something that'll keep performing for years." The updated inventory also includes a spinnaker staysail, a half-ounce gennaker, and a freshly recut genoa for reaching. "We've now got sails for every direction," he laughs. "It's all about being ready for whatever the coast throws at us."
Crew, camaraderie, and a touch of chaos
Eleven people will be aboard Fez when the race gets underway, a blend of experienced hands and newer sailors drawn partly from the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club's training programme. "About half the crew are women," says Justine. "We've got Flick Barry from the North loft, her daughter Madison who's 17, and another apprentice, Natasha Eccles, plus her partner Josh. Then there are a few of our old mates and a couple of people we've trained from scratch."
Casey is candid about the work involved in bringing newer crew members up to speed. "We've worked hard to build a capable team. Some of them are learning the ropes — literally — but they're keen, and that's what matters." On board, responsibilities are comfortably divided. "Justine usually steers," Casey grins, "and I run around pulling ropes."
New division, same determination
Success has brought its own complications. Fez's 2024 win resulted in a higher handicap rating and a move from Division 2 into Division 1b, where the boats are faster and the competition sharper.
“We were expecting to get moved up. Now we’ll be racing against Assassin and Clockwork — we won’t see which way they go, but that’s fine. It’s a handicap race for us.”
The aim this season is steady performance across varying conditions rather than relying on a single set of circumstances. Fez is at her best driving upwind into a fresh breeze, the long hull and narrow beam keeping her settled and efficient through a chop. Even so, Casey is prepared for whatever the race serves up. "If I could choose, I'd take 15 to 25 knots from the northeast. That'd be a perfect lay, quick and clean."
Two-handed dreams
Despite the size of their current crew, the Bellinghams are already planning to go smaller. “If we have another good run this year,” Casey says, “maybe next year Justine and I will do it two-handed.”
It would not be the first time the Bellinghams have set themselves a demanding target. Casey has won multiple Coastals on other boats, including Thunder, Attitude, and Charleston, and he still holds the 8.5 catamaran record. Racing Fez alongside Justine carries a different weight altogether, though. "This boat's ours," Justine says. "It's the one that feels right."
Racing for the right reasons
Rivalry in the conventional sense holds little appeal for the Bellinghams. "My biggest competition is against myself," says Casey. "It's a time-on-time race, so you know pretty quickly if you've sailed well. The camaraderie is what keeps us coming back." Both see that sense of community as the defining quality of the Coastal Classic, an event where professional campaigners and family crews share the same water and chase the same finish. "It's still the one race that brings everyone together," Casey says. "From the top pros to the family crews, we're all chasing the same horizon."
The fleet heads north on 24 October, just ahead of Labour Weekend, and Fez will be among them. Fresh sails are bent on, new crew members have come through the training programme, and the quiet confidence that carried Fez to a handicap victory in 2024 remains intact. "People think the race is huge," Justine smiles, "but it's really just like going to Great Barrier and back. You just have to give it a go."
