Tauranga teen Sven Pedersen is in Britain competing for the NZ Youth Sailing Team at the UK Youth Nationals off Hayling Island.

Sven, 17, is sailing in the RS:X class and at this early stage in the regatta is lying mid-fleet.

Sven Pedersen competing at the British event. Photo: Stuart Pedersen.

Also competing from Mount Maunganui is Molly Meech, 18, on Laser Radial.

With no racing overnight for Molly she remains in third place overall and first female after three races on the first day.

Accompanying the team is Yachting New Zealand coach Ian Neely.

The regatta serves as the UK selection trials for the Youth World Champs in Croatia in July, for which the four New Zealand sailors were selected earlier this year.

This is the first year they have welcomed overseas sailors at the British event, and the organisers have waived the entry fee for the NZ team to encourage their attendance. Yachting New Zealand has covered the airfares for the team.

'The UK performs consistently as the top nation in Olympic sailing, and has a comprehensive sailing programme across classes and ages,” says Sven's father Stuart.

'So the standard is very high and this is a great learning experience for the NZ youth sailors.”

The racing concludes on Friday and Sven and Molly will return to new Zealand soon after.