- It’s a story about a 29-year-old girl from Long Island, New York who shattered stereotypes and tamed the wild vast ocean. Cole Brauer made history on the 7th of March when she became the first American woman to race solo around the world.
ing point in the career because before she didn’t feel support: “Nobody took me seriously. I was always just the ‘girl in the van’” said 29-year-old.
For this one-of-a-kind journey, Brauer chose a very special boat: “I’ve always wanted to sail around the world and envisioned doing it on a boat I know, love, and trust. For this reason, I chose First Light. To me, she embodies all of this. When we’re at sea, I talk to her as if she were my child. When she’s fine, I’m fine. We have a wonderful relationship and deep mutual understanding: when things aren’t going right, I feel she’s showing me she’s doing her best to improve the situation. Furthermore, as a Class40, she was born and built sturdy and resilient for challenges like this.”
First Light is designed by Owen Clarke Designs and built in the UK by Composite Creations, the same model as ZeroChallenge (formerly Fuji) sailed by Ari Känsäkoski
Brauer documented her entire journey on Instagram, giving her 500,000 followers direct access to daily updates. Probably one of the most remarkable moments there was Point Nemo in the South Pacific, which in scientific terms means “oceanic pole of inaccessibility”: the place in the ocean that is furthest from emerged land, with no one in any direction within an area of 22 million km².
“Just crossed Point Nemo!” Brauer shared the exciting news. “The closest humans are on the international space station!” she added with some sadness in her voice. At that moment, Brauer was facing difficulties with catching up with the winds and was feeling a bit stuck.
March 8 (Reuters) – Sailor Cole Brauer has become the first American woman to race solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, completing a journey spanning 30,000 miles after 130 days at sea.
Brauer set off from A Coruna in Spain on Oct. 29 to circumnavigate the globe via the three great capes of Africa, Australia and South America as part of the Global Solo Challenge race. She returned to the Spanish port city on Thursday.
Despite sustaining rib injuries around the midpoint of the race, the 29-year-old finished in second place.
She was the youngest skipper and the only female sailor in the fleet of 16 boats.
“This is really cool and so overwhelming in every sense of the word,” NBC News quoted Brauer as saying.
“It would be amazing if there was just one girl that saw me and said, ‘Oh, I can do that too.’”
In 1978, Poland’s Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz became the first woman to complete a solo circumnavigation of the globe. She set sail from the Canary Islands in March 1976 and returned in April 1978.
Australia’s Kay Cottee was the first woman to accomplish the feat non-stop, setting sail from Sydney Harbour in November 1987 and returning 189 days later.
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