Junior Hawke's Bay sailor Carl Marshall is off to France for the World Open Skiff Championship later this month, where he will be coached by sailing icon Sir Russell Coutts.
Marshall, 15, of Lindisfarne College, will compete at the championships in Carcans from July 18-23.
He has previously represented New Zealand in overseas competitions in New Caledonia and China and is heading off for his first international regatta since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He has been sailing Open Skiffs, a class founded in 2006 as Open Bic for children and teenagers, for four years.
He has received periodic coaching from multiple America's Cup winner Coutts at organised coaching clinics as part of local regattas since taking up the class.