Schoolgirl sailor Jessica Watson looks set for a hero's welcome on Sydney Harbour on Saturday, at the end of her solo seven-month round-the-world voyage.
A flotilla of boats - and thousands of spectators - are expected to gather to watch as Watson, 16, sails back into the city as the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe solo and unassisted.
Millions more will watch her arrival on TV, with Watson's support team urging the nation to take part in what they claim will be a "historic" moment.
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But her record will be an unofficial one - the World Speed Sailing Council will not recognise Watson's feat, as its minimum age is 18.
"It will be with great pride that all of Jessica's family, friends, sponsors, support team and millions of fans will welcome her back to Sydney as the youngest person to have sailed solo around the world," her management says.
'Monumental achievement'
"It is a monumental achievement from an inspirational 16-year-old Australian who has touched people's hearts all around the world."
The teenager, who has been sailing since she was eight, will take her first steps on dry land in 210 days at the Sydney Opera House, three days before her 17th birthday and one month ahead of schedule.
But she is unlikely to give many details about her odyssey, after selling her story to Rupert Murdoch's News Limited for a reported AU$700,000.
Watson said she was disappointed that fellow Australian Jesse Martin would continue to hold the official record for the voyage, which he set over 328 days aged 18 in 1999.
"It's a shame that my voyage won't be recognised by a few organisations because I'm under 18, but it really doesn't worry me," Watson wrote on her blog last week.
"I mean there's millions, properly billions of people who still don't believe in global warming, so I'm more than happy to settle for a few people going against the tide and declaring that mine hasn't been an official circumnavigation."
Sailor Watson 'an inspiration'
Watson's 23,000 nautical mile journey took her through some of the world's most challenging and treacherous waters, pitting her bright pink 10-metre yacht against huge swells and gale-force winds.
She twice sailed over the equator, crossed all meridians of longitude and passed the world's four capes as she traversed the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Project manager Bruce Arms said Watson was a "very strong-willed young lady", while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described her as "inspiration for all Australians" - a far cry from the furore which surrounded her departure.
Last year, authorities questioned her abilities after she smashed into a massive coal freighter during a test sail, snapping her yacht's mast and damaging its rigging and hull.
An investigation found she was asleep and tracking the wrong vessel when she hit the 63,800-tonne bulk carrier Silver Yang, and heavy criticism was directed at her parents for encouraging her bid.
"There are people out there who I suppose have their doubts, and rightly so because it's a big, scary and possibly dangerous thing," Watson said at the time. "But I am not here without confidence."
