Zac Sunderland poses for photographs at the Marina Del Rey in California Photo.

A 17-year-old US mariner¹ steered² his battered³ sailboat into a Southern California harbour on Thursday to complete a gruelling 13-month voyage and become the youngest person to sail around the world alone.

Zac Sunderland arrived in Marina Del Rey aboard his 36-foot sloop⁴ Intrepid⁵ at about 10am local time. During his 28,000-nautical-mile journey, he braved storms, equipment failures, close calls with freighters and a run-in with suspected pirates.

"It's awesome⁶ to be back." Sunderland, of Thousand Oaks, California, said after he was welcomed home by a flotilla of well-wishers.

Fewer than 250 people have sailed solo around the globe, with three times that many scaling the top of Mount Everest, according to the American Sailing Association, which certified⁷ Sunderland's feat⁸.

He left Marina Del Rey, just south of Los Angeles, on June 14, 2008, and celebrated⁹ his 17th birthday at sea while off Africa's Cape¹⁰ of Good Hope.

His return was delayed near the end of his voyage when his single-masted boat sustained a broken bulkhead in rough seas off Mexico, forcing him to stop at Puerto Vallarta long enough for his father to fly in to make repairs.

Another tense moment occurred in the Indian Ocean off Indonesia, where the Intrepid was approached by a suspected pirate boat.

The intruders fled after a plane flew overhead and Sunderland climbed onto his deck with a gun to ward¹¹ them off, said Charlie Nobles, executive director of the association.

Sunderland, who remained in satellite telephone contact with his father during the voyage, dumped the gun before entering Mexican waters, where it is illegal to carry private firearms.

He becomes the first person under 18 to circumnavigate the globe by sea alone, and the youngest to date. The previous record-holder was David Dicks of Australia, who completed his voyage in November 1996 at age 18.

一位17岁的美国水手周四将他的饱经风霜的帆船驶入加利福尼亚南部港湾，完成了他长达13个月的艰苦旅程，自此他成为历史上孤身环球航海最年轻的人。

扎克•桑德兰在当地时间早上大约10点钟驾着他的36英尺长的“勇猛”号的单桅纵帆船到达了玛琳娜得瑞港。在他长达28,000海里的旅途中，他战胜了暴风雨、设备故障等难题，在险些和货轮相撞时幸运脱身，还与疑似海盗的船只擦肩而过。

桑德兰回到老家加利福尼亚千橡市时受到许多祝福者的欢迎，他说：“能回来真是太好了。”

美国航行协会为桑德兰的成就颁发了鉴定证书，根据这一协会的数据显示，曾独自驾船环游地球人不到250个，而登上珠穆朗玛峰顶峰的人数却是它的三倍。

2008年6月14日，桑德兰驾船离开了洛杉矶南部的玛琳娜得瑞港，途中在非洲好望角附近的海上庆祝了自己十七岁的生日。

在他行至墨西哥附近的海域接近旅途结束的时候，他的单桅帆船的隔板断了，当时海面上波涛汹涌，这迫使他不得不停靠在墨西哥的瓦亚塔港口，直到他的父亲乘飞机赶到为他修理帆船。

另外一个惊险时刻是在印度尼西亚附近的印度洋海域，当时，一艘疑似海盗船的船只靠近了“勇猛”号。

航行协会的执行董事查理•诺伯尔斯说，就在那时一架飞机从头顶飞过，桑德兰爬到甲板上用枪对着他们，于是那些入侵者就逃走了。

桑德兰在航行过程中一直用卫星电话和父亲保持联系。他在进入墨西哥水域时把那支枪扔了，因为在那里私带枪支是违法的。

他成为了18岁以下孤身环球航海的第一人，也是至今完成这一航行最年轻的人。之前保持这一纪录的是澳大利亚的戴维•迪克斯，他在1996年11月满18岁那年完成了自己的环球之旅。

Vocabulary:

gruelling: 繁重而累人的

sloop: 单桅纵帆船

intrepid: 勇敢的，无畏的。在文中指船的一种型号。

brave: 勇敢地面对

run-in: 碰撞，冲撞

solo: 单独地

scale: 攀登，到达……的顶点

bulkhead: 舱壁，隔板，隔墙

ward off: 避开

circumnavigate: 绕一周，环航