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Now he wants to write a book about his adventures and hopes they inspire young people to get motivated about their lives.
"Society puts younger people like 15 through 18 in kind of a box, that no one's really expected to do much. You know, they kind of just tend to go to high school and play football and that's pretty much it," he said.
"There's so much more potential that people can do with the right motivation and the right ambition in life so... my thing would just be to get out there and do hard things. Go for it."
Another 17-year-old, Briton Mike Pernham, is also currently completing a round the world trip, and he congratulated Sunderland Thursday on his blog.
"I always knew that some people would try to pit us against each other and it bugs me when that happens," he wrote.
"Was it Zac vs Mike? No. I tell you what it is. It's two teenagers going out there, living their dream and having the adventure of a lifetime!
"Once again, well done Zac!"
Charlie Nobles, executive director of the American Sailing Association, said Zac's around-the-world voyage was an amazing feat. "The patience, knowledge and fortitude required for such a journey is immeasurable," he said.
"And, it's beyond unusual to find those qualities in someone Zac's age. This is an age group we associate with all things instantaneous -- texting, tweeting at a mile per second."
According to the American Sailing Association, over the past 13 months and roughly 28,000 nautical miles (51,860 kilometers), Sunderland dodged gigantic freighters, languished in the doldrums and limped into ports with equipment failures.
The association added that fewer than 250 people have sailed solo around the world.
Sunderland, who told AFP during a stop in Panama that he had been born aboard a yacht, is the oldest of six children. And he voiced his admiration for adventurer Robin Lee Graham, who in 1965 left California aged 16, and sailed around the world for five years.
Now Sunderland has other conquests in mind -- such as possibly scaling Mount Everest.
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"Society puts younger people like 15 through 18 in kind of a box, that no one's really expected to do much. You know, they kind of just tend to go to high school and play football and that's pretty much it," he said.
"There's so much more potential that people can do with the right motivation and the right ambition in life so... my thing would just be to get out there and do hard things. Go for it."
Another 17-year-old, Briton Mike Pernham, is also currently completing a round the world trip, and he congratulated Sunderland Thursday on his blog.
"I always knew that some people would try to pit us against each other and it bugs me when that happens," he wrote.
"Was it Zac vs Mike? No. I tell you what it is. It's two teenagers going out there, living their dream and having the adventure of a lifetime!
"Once again, well done Zac!"
Charlie Nobles, executive director of the American Sailing Association, said Zac's around-the-world voyage was an amazing feat. "The patience, knowledge and fortitude required for such a journey is immeasurable," he said.
"And, it's beyond unusual to find those qualities in someone Zac's age. This is an age group we associate with all things instantaneous -- texting, tweeting at a mile per second."
According to the American Sailing Association, over the past 13 months and roughly 28,000 nautical miles (51,860 kilometers), Sunderland dodged gigantic freighters, languished in the doldrums and limped into ports with equipment failures.
The association added that fewer than 250 people have sailed solo around the world.
Sunderland, who told AFP during a stop in Panama that he had been born aboard a yacht, is the oldest of six children. And he voiced his admiration for adventurer Robin Lee Graham, who in 1965 left California aged 16, and sailed around the world for five years.
Now Sunderland has other conquests in mind -- such as possibly scaling Mount Everest.
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