Laura Dekker, age 16, completed a year long voyage around the globe, on a sailboat named Guppy. She is the youngest person to have circled the globe alone on a sailboat.
There were many stops on her voyage. It ended at St Marten, Philipsburg, where she was greeted amidst a lot of cheer and applause. Her family had already greeted her at sea earlier.
Laura had to battle against high seas and heavy winds on her final leg of the Voyage from Cape Town. She described the whole experience as a dream that she lived through. Although she is the youngest sailor to circle the globe alone, the Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Sailing Council do not acknowledge the record, as they do not want to encourage young sailors to attempt dangerous feats.
The stops through her voyage include exotic names such as Bora Bora, Fiji, South Africa, Australia, Canary Islands, Tonga, Galapagos Islands and Panama. On her journey around the globe, the teenager covered more than 27,000 nautical miles.
