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| Laura Dekker |
She has cut six months off the unofficial record set in 2010 by Australian teenager Jessica Watson, who was days away from her 17th birthday when she completed her own non-stop voyage.
Miss Dekker's parents, Dick Dekker and Babs Muller, her grandparents and her sister Kim, as well as a 400-strong crowd of well-wishers - on shore and in small boats - welcomed her when she docked at 7pm on Saturday night.
They jumped and cheered as Miss Dekker stepped off her yacht, Guppy, and waved.
"There were moments where I was like, 'What the hell am I doing out here?,' but I never wanted to stop," she told reporters.
"It's a dream, and I wanted to do it."
"Her story is just amazing," said one of Miss Dekker's fans, 10-year-old Jody Bell of Connecticut.
"I can't imagine someone her age going out on sea all by herself."
Jody was in St. Maarten with her mother, Deena Merlen, a lawyer in Manhattan, who was on a work trip but wanted to see Miss Dekker complete her journey. The two wore T-shirts that read: "Guppy rocks my world."
"My daughter and I have been following Laura's story, and we think it's amazing and inspiring," said Ms Merlen.
Miss Dekker has had to cope with weeks of solitude, ocean storms and a fear of pirates while navigating and sailing a 38-foot yacht, all the time trying to keep up with her schoolwork.
But she will not be sailing into the record books. After the controversy she caused when she announced she was going to try to break the record in a small boat aged just 13, Guinness World Records decided to stop recognising records for “youngest” sailors.
Miss Dekker then fled abroad in 2010 when Dutch child welfare authorities took legal action to try to stop her making the voyage.
She later won a 10-month court battle, promising judges she would buy a bigger boat with advanced navigation equipment, take courses in first aid and coping with sleep deprivation, and enrol in a special correspondence school.
Unlike other youthful round-the-world sailors, Miss Dekker made several stops at ports to ensure her vessel was properly maintained, and to brush up on her studies.
During her trip, she went surfing, scuba diving, cliff diving and discovered a new hobby: playing the flute, which she said in her weblog was easier to play than a guitar in bad weather.
Miss Dekker also complained about custom clearings, boat inspections, ripped sails, heavy squalls, a wet and salty bed, a near-collision with two cargo ships and the presence of some persistent stowaways: cockroaches.
"I became good friends with my boat," she said. "I learned a lot about myself."
Highlights of her trip include 47 days of sailing the Indian Ocean, which left her with unsteady legs when she docked in Durban, South Africa, where she walked up and down the pier several times for practice.
While in South Africa, she also saw her first whale.
"It dove right in front of my boat and got all this water on my boat, and that wasn't really nice," she said.
Miss Dekker effectively grew up on boats with her sailor father, who has encouraged her voyages. At the age of 12 she sailed from the Netherlands to Britain and back.
Not all youthful sailors however have been as lucky as her. Miss Dekker’s voyage began two months after Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old American, had to be rescued when her mast broke in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.
Miss Dekker’s achievement has divided the Netherlands, where her father has been branded “irresponsible” and a publicity seeker. In the blogs she has written at sea Miss Dekker has described her anger with Dutch officials, after five court appearances which she said would “haunt her for a long time”.
On Friday night she wrote: “I do not want to be totally negative about Holland, I know I have many supporters there. I feel sad for them that I am not sailing into either Hoek van Holland or Ijmuiden. That would have bene a great party for everyone.”
She has written a book on her two-year fight with Dutch officials before embarking on her voyage, called Mijn Verhaal (My Story).
Miss Dekker said in blogs written during her voyage that she was so tired of the controversy it had aroused in Holland that she might move abroad. She holds a New Zealand passport as she was born in New Zealand waters - on a boat - during a seven-year voyage made by her parents. She also hopes to work for conservation, after using her voyage to raise funds for the charity Sea Shepherd.
"It's a dream, and I wanted to do it."
"Her story is just amazing," said one of Miss Dekker's fans, 10-year-old Jody Bell of Connecticut.
"I can't imagine someone her age going out on sea all by herself."
Jody was in St. Maarten with her mother, Deena Merlen, a lawyer in Manhattan, who was on a work trip but wanted to see Miss Dekker complete her journey. The two wore T-shirts that read: "Guppy rocks my world."
"My daughter and I have been following Laura's story, and we think it's amazing and inspiring," said Ms Merlen.
Miss Dekker has had to cope with weeks of solitude, ocean storms and a fear of pirates while navigating and sailing a 38-foot yacht, all the time trying to keep up with her schoolwork.
But she will not be sailing into the record books. After the controversy she caused when she announced she was going to try to break the record in a small boat aged just 13, Guinness World Records decided to stop recognising records for “youngest” sailors.
Miss Dekker then fled abroad in 2010 when Dutch child welfare authorities took legal action to try to stop her making the voyage.
She later won a 10-month court battle, promising judges she would buy a bigger boat with advanced navigation equipment, take courses in first aid and coping with sleep deprivation, and enrol in a special correspondence school.
Unlike other youthful round-the-world sailors, Miss Dekker made several stops at ports to ensure her vessel was properly maintained, and to brush up on her studies.
During her trip, she went surfing, scuba diving, cliff diving and discovered a new hobby: playing the flute, which she said in her weblog was easier to play than a guitar in bad weather.
Miss Dekker also complained about custom clearings, boat inspections, ripped sails, heavy squalls, a wet and salty bed, a near-collision with two cargo ships and the presence of some persistent stowaways: cockroaches.
"I became good friends with my boat," she said. "I learned a lot about myself."
Highlights of her trip include 47 days of sailing the Indian Ocean, which left her with unsteady legs when she docked in Durban, South Africa, where she walked up and down the pier several times for practice.
While in South Africa, she also saw her first whale.
"It dove right in front of my boat and got all this water on my boat, and that wasn't really nice," she said.
Miss Dekker effectively grew up on boats with her sailor father, who has encouraged her voyages. At the age of 12 she sailed from the Netherlands to Britain and back.
Not all youthful sailors however have been as lucky as her. Miss Dekker’s voyage began two months after Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old American, had to be rescued when her mast broke in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.
Miss Dekker’s achievement has divided the Netherlands, where her father has been branded “irresponsible” and a publicity seeker. In the blogs she has written at sea Miss Dekker has described her anger with Dutch officials, after five court appearances which she said would “haunt her for a long time”.
On Friday night she wrote: “I do not want to be totally negative about Holland, I know I have many supporters there. I feel sad for them that I am not sailing into either Hoek van Holland or Ijmuiden. That would have bene a great party for everyone.”
She has written a book on her two-year fight with Dutch officials before embarking on her voyage, called Mijn Verhaal (My Story).
Miss Dekker said in blogs written during her voyage that she was so tired of the controversy it had aroused in Holland that she might move abroad. She holds a New Zealand passport as she was born in New Zealand waters - on a boat - during a seven-year voyage made by her parents. She also hopes to work for conservation, after using her voyage to raise funds for the charity Sea Shepherd.
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