The harbour was turned into a spectacular reception area, as hundreds of boats crammed into the narrow waters to greet the young adventurer on her small, pink yacht. She had left Sydney in October, sailing in sometimes difficult conditions through the Pacific, across the equator, past Cape Horn in South America, across the Atlantic, past the Cape of Good Hope, through the Indian Ocean before returning to Australian waters. Fellow solo sailors Australian Jesse Martin and English teen Mike Perham helped Watson take her yacht in after she crossed the finish line, as an aeroplane wrote her name ‘‘Jessica’’ in white smoke in the sky. Fears that Watson would struggle to walk after such a long time at sea were unfounded, as she made her way up a pink carpet to the Opera House forecourt with her family, wearing a broad grin and looking none the worse for her epic voyage. Greeted by the Prime Minister

She was met by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who hailed her as "Australia's newest hero". "You do our nation proud," he said. "You are a hero for young Australians ... and young Australian women." But Watson said she had to disagree with Mr Rudd as "I don't consider myself a hero". Stepping off was so strange, because for the last seven months, I was doing everything to stay on board "I'm an ordinary girl who had a dream. You just have to have a dream and set your mind to it.’’

Confident and relaxed, Watson was even able to throw in a joke or two. ‘‘It was tough,’’ she said when asked how it felt to leave her yacht. ‘‘Stepping off was so strange, because for the last seven months, I was doing everything to stay on board,’’ she said as the crowd laughed. ‘You can achieve anything’ The Queenslander was quick to emphasise how young people - especially girls - could achieve anything ‘‘if you want it enough’’. ‘‘People don’t realise ... what girls are made of,’’ she said.

‘‘When you take away those expectations, it’s amazing what you can achieve.’’ She added at a press conference later that people ‘‘just need the passion to want something bad enough and a way to make it happen’’. ‘‘The thing that picked me up in the tough times was having come through other tough things, like the day I sailed in after the collision [on my trial run] holding my head high to the critics. ‘‘I held my head high then, I can do this.’’ Also present to welcome Watson was NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, who joked the young sailor was ‘‘possibly the most important person in Australia, because you made the Prime Minister and NSW Premier and all these people wait for hours for your return’’.

But she hailed the teen for her courage and for reminding people that ‘‘it’s possible to follow our dream’’. Dismisses criticism Watson brushed off criticism expressed during the last week of her journey that she did not fulfil the requirements to get a world record, saying ‘‘it’s not something that worries me’’. ‘‘It’s really simple. If I haven’t sailed around the world, I’d be lost as to what I’ve just spent the last seven months doing,’’ she said. Sail World website said Watson would not break Martin's 1999 record, as she had only travelled 18,265 nautical miles, about 2000 nautical miles short of qualifying for official ‘‘around the world’’ status.

‘‘For me, it was never just about the record, so I’m not worried at all.’’ She also refused to comment on Dutch sailor Laura Dekker’s difficulties, after the 14-year-old was blocked by her government from circumnavigating the globe because of her age, saying she didn’t know what Dekker’s preparations were. But she added she’d learnt that ‘‘you don’t judge someone by a number or what they look like.’’ What’s next? Watson joked she had changed after the trip as she was ‘‘a year older’’.

But she said she learnt that ‘‘it’s definitely about having fun’’. ‘‘Just don’t take it too seriously,’’ she said. The 16-year-old - who turns 17 in three days - said she looked forward to doing more sailing and perhaps racing, but was happy to ‘‘do normal things’’ now. Loading ‘‘[I’ll] just have a quiet few years, finish school, that sort of thing.

‘‘We’ll see where sailing takes me after that.’’