After a year of fending off pirates, suffering through squalls, and terrorizing storms and repairs to his vessel, 17-year-old Zac Sunderland docked near Los Angeles on Thursday marking his return to the area a full year and one month after leaving.
Sunderland left on June 14, 2008 as a 16-year-old without a driver's license. He returned as the youngest person to sail and navigate solo around the world.
The previous record holder was Australian David Dicks, who was 18-years-old when he completed his trip in 1996.
Sunderland completed the 28,000-mile journey by finishing where he started—in Los Angeles.
His family, friends and hundreds of other supporters were there when he pulled his 36-foot Intrepid sailboat—fully funded by his own saved money—into the dock.
He was stoic in his return to the familiar, but yet foreign, shores of Marina del Rey.
"As I get closer and closer to home it is getting really exciting to be finishing up this year long adventure," Sunderland wrote on his blog. "It is going to be strange getting back but awesome to see my friends from Southern California."
During his journey, he encoun...
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