A California teenager sailed back into his home port here Thursday to become the youngest person ever to sail around the globe.

Zac Sunderland, 17, returned 13 months and 28,000 miles after charting a course west into the Pacific on June 14, 2008. He was only 16 at the time.

His return was greeted with fair weather and an armada of sailboats and yachts. Sunderland had survived pirates, violent seas and shattered masts to topple a 10-year-old record set by Australian Jesse Martin, who accomplished the same feat at 18.

Sunderland piloted a 36-foot Islander he had bought with $6,000 of his own money. Appropriately, the boat was named Intrepid. The son of a shipwright, the teen had logged more than 15,000 hours under sail before starting on his adventure.

His moment of glory may be short-lived. A Brit named Mike Perham is about three weeks away from nearing the end of his own solo circumnavigation aboard a 50-foot yacht. He's a few months younger than the Californian.