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Twenty-nine-year-old Cole Brauer has made history.
The Long Island sailor, who grew up in Springs, East Hampton, became the first American woman to race solo nonstop around the world on Thursday, March 7.
She placed second in the Global Solo Challenge, which a total of 16 avid sailors signed up to compete in, after launching off from A Coruña, Spain on October 29, 2023.
Brauer spent 130 days circumnavigating the 30,000 miles down the west coast of Africa, Australia, around the tip of South America, and back to Spain.
According to NBC News, over half of the competitors in the Global Solo Challenge have dropped out because of its grueling nature, which Brauer has documented firsthand via her Instagram account, which has gained over 470,000 followers.
Not only has Brauer had to manage everything on the boat, including making repairs, navigation, steering, understanding the weather, and more, but she has had to maintain her physical health in what can be dangerous conditions.
In November, she got sick and had to give herself an IV, as directed by her medical team back on dry land. Later, in December, she shared a video of her getting thrown across the boat after hitting a particularly bad wave, during which she bruised her ribs.
After all that, Brauer still had to pass South America’s Cape Horn, the point where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. The stretch is “a mariner’s nightmare,” according to NASA, due to its multiple hazards, including a sharp rise in the ocean floor and potent westerly winds.
The cape is often likened to climbing Mount Everest.
Nevertheless, Brauer made it through the frightening seas of Cape Horn in January 2024, heading once again into the Atlantic Ocean and making her way back to A Coruña.
Brauer grew up in East Hampton, where she said that she used to paddle in a kayak in middle school, but didn’t start sailing until she started college in Hawaii.
Standing 5-foot-2 and weighing 100 pounds, Brauer told NBC News that professional racers were hesitant to let her on their teams, making it hard for her to make sailing her career — and even ran into the same issue as she looked for sponsors for the Global Solo Challenge.
“I push so much harder when someone’s like, ‘No, you can’t do that,’ or ‘You’re too small,’” she told NBC.
Brauer joined the 186 people who have completed the solo nonstop trip, defying all of the skeptics and naysayers with her recent touchdown back on dry land. She told NBC News she only had one message for the haters.
“‘Watch me.’”
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