Claims against teen sailor 'nonsense' - grandfather

Teenager Jessica Watson. Photo / Supplied

The New Zealand grandfather of Australian sailor Jessica Watson says claims the teen will not have travelled far enough to claim the record as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe are nonsense.

The 16-year-old set out in her yacht Ella's Pink Lady last October aiming to sail solo around the world non-stop.

She is now nearing the end of the a 42,000-kilometre journey, having rounded Tasmania last week after weeks of battling rough weather, and was expected to arrive in Sydney Harbour later this month.

However, Sail World magazine said Ms Watson would not have fulfilled the World Speed Sailing Record Council's criteria to claim the record from Jesse Martin, The Age newspaper reported.

"She has simply not gone far enough north of the equator," the magazine said.

"Look at her track and that of Jesse Martin and you can easily see where his extra thousands of miles were sailed."

Jessica's grandfather Gordon Chisholm, who lives in Cromwell in central Otago, said the magazine's claims were rubbish.

"I think it's a load of nonsense quite frankly," Mr Chisholm said.

"She didn't set out to break a record. She wanted to sail around the world - hopefully before she was 17."

Mr Chisholm said as far as he had heard officials had ruled out records by people aged under 18 so the record was simply not an issue.

He said Ms Watson would not be bothered by the claims, and that she was looking forward to getting home.

He and his wife, Margaret, would be in Sydney to welcome home their granddaughter, he said.

"It'll be good to have her home but there were never really any fears," he said.

Moderate conditions are expected ahead of her landing in Sydney.

- NZPA