AN Australian teenager, David Dicks, has sailed into the record books by becoming the youngest mariner to circumnavigate the world alone and non stop.
Mr Dicks, who turned 18 last month, glided his 33 ft sloop Seaflight across the finishing line in Fremantle Harbour, Western Australia, yesterday, 264 days after starting his marathon 21,740 mile voyage last February.
Mr Dicks, of the Perth suburb of Brentwood, beat the record of a 20 year old American, B.J Cordwell who completed his voyage in Hawaii three months ago.
Tens of thousands of flag waving Western Australians converged on the port city and a tumultuous roar erupted from a sea of colour as the Western Australian Premier, Mr Richard Court, fired a gun to signal the end of the voyage.
The greatest threat to Mr Dicks's attempt came in May when a bolt holding cables supporting his boat's mast broke in a storm. The youth had to climb Seiiflight's mast at night in rough weather to make temporary repairs.
Mr Dicks contacted the British navy by radio and a new bolt was delivered by helicopter during a scheduled mail drop.
Mr Dicks's mentor, Mr Jon, Sanders, the Western Australian, who completed a triple circumnavigation in 1988, described his protege's achievement as unique. "He's coped with everything and he's beaten it. He started out as a boy - and has finished a man."