Tom's joy at winning spell

Tom Winter. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A 13-year-old from Christchurch has booked his ticket to the world's most famous spelling bee with the word "dissonant".

Tom Winter won the Vegemite Spelling Bee in Wellington yesterday after a gruelling 17-round competition.

"I was really nervous, but now I'm really happy with my win and it's a relief it's over," he said.

The Burnside High School student will travel to Washington DC to represent New Zealand in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June.

He has two months to study the 470,000 words in the Webster's Third New International Dictionary.

Event manager Janet Lucas said Tom's win broke a three-year winning streak for Hamilton. Runner-up Celine Kao from Hamilton's Sacred Heart College was tripped up on the word "circuitous".