Australian schoolgirl sailor Jessica Watson sailed into history yesterday as a noisy pink-bathed crowd welcomed her home as the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, non-stop and without help.
Tens of thousands of people took to the harbor and lined the foreshore to celebrate as Watson, 16, crossed the finish line in her bright pink yacht, ending a remarkable 210 days at sea.
Harbor Master Steve Young sounded a pink hooter to signal the official end to her voyage, and a tugboat sent up a celebratory jet of water as the beaming teen steered through the harbor mouth, waving to the throng of onlookers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
It was a “daunting” change of scenery for Watson, who said she’d grown used to the monotony of isolation and “empty waves.”
“I haven’t seen a person for almost seven months and suddenly there’s people everywhere, faces, so much color, so much noise, so much everything,” Watson told reporters. “It was amazing and very overwhelming.”
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joined the teenager’s emotional parents Roger and Julie to welcome her at the Sydney Opera House, where she took her first steps on dry land in almost seven months, to wild cheers and applause.
“You may feel a little wobbly on your feet just now,” Rudd told Watson, who needed help to hobble on unsteady feet up the pink carpet from her boat. “But in the eyes of all Australians, you now stand tall, as our newest Australian hero.”
Watson appeared incredulous at her jubilant reception, broadcast live on commercial television to millions of Australians, and was quick to dismiss the prime minister’s praise.
“I don’t consider myself a hero,” the schoolgirl said. “I’m an ordinary girl who believed in a dream. You don’t have to be someone special or anything special to achieve something amazing, you’ve just got to have a dream, believe in it and work hard.”
“I’d like to think that by sailing solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, I’ve proved that anything really can be achieved if you set your mind to it. Anything really is possible,” she said.
Although the World Speed Sailing Council will not recognize Watson’s record, as its minimum age is 18, her seven-month voyage makes her the youngest person to achieve a solo, continuous and unaided circumnavigation.
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Beijing’s constant disruption of the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait has damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability. China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.” Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan
UNDER WAY: The contract for advanced sensor systems would be fulfilled in Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031, the Pentagon said Lockheed Martin has been given a contract involving foreign military sales to Taiwan to meet what Washington calls “an urgent operational need” of Taiwan’s air force, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The contract has a ceiling value of US$328.5 million, with US$157.3 million in foreign military sales funds obligated at the time of award, the Pentagon said in a statement. “This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of 55 Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor Pods, processors, pod containers and processor containers required to meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan air force,” it said. The contract’s work would be
RSS