She left her name in the history books.
After arriving in Spain Thursday morning, Captain Cole Braugher, 29, of Long Island, tearfully reunited with her family, drank her trophy champagne and became the first American woman to circumnavigate the world solo.
Brower’s journey spanned more than 130 days as part of the Global Solo Challenge, a daunting 26,000 nautical mile race that began in October off the coast of A Coruña in northwest Spain. is.
“I can’t believe it, guys. I’ve been around the world,” Brauer said in an Instagram Live video as he approached the finish line. “That’s crazy. That’s totally crazy. This is amazing. Let’s do it again. Let’s keep going!”
She was also the only woman among 19 sailors, seven of whom remained in the race after several withdrawals and abandonments.
“The goal was always to be the first American woman to compete in a race around the world,” Brauer said. According to her sailing profile. “With this goal, we want to show that this very male-dominated sport and community can become more open and less “traditional.” “
Brauer documented her perilous journey aboard her beloved racing boat, First Light, each day for her 459,000 Instagram followers. The First Light is a 40-foot monohull sailing vessel that typically carries a crew of one or two.
After descending the west coast of Africa, Brower entered the Southern Ocean in early December, where he overtook second place.
She frequently showed fans her balmy mornings in the Atlantic Ocean and her training sessions on board. But she wasn’t shy about opening up about her struggles at sea.
In December, Brouwer was violently thrown across the First Light due to broaching, injuring his ribs. Broaching is when a boat unintentionally veers into the wind in rough seas near Africa.
“A solo voyager has to be able to do everything.” Brauer he told NBC on March 3.. “You have to be able to stand up even when you’re very tired, and you have to be able to repair everything on the boat.”
It reached the Pacific Ocean on December 29th, passed the southernmost tip of South America, and returned to the Atlantic Ocean on January 27th.
Missing the holidays back home, Brauer decorated First Light with decorations appropriate for the occasion, including pumpkins and ghosts for Halloween, a small felt Christmas tree, and a New Year’s dress and champagne.
Brauer celebrated his 100th day at sea on February 5th.
She told the magazine that while making her final push through the Atlantic, she began to feel that the boat was “degrading” and “starting to break down.”
She deliberately delayed her arrival near the finish line to coincide with the first light of the morning, after which the boat was named.
“I’m glad we got there in better light than usual,” Brauer said. “It’s just necessary.”
As he crossed the finish line, Brauer held two smoke bombs over his head, signaling the end of a campaign that had spanned more than four months.
French skipper Philippe Delmaret, who started the race a month before Brauer, won the Global Solo Challenge on February 24th.
He traveled around the globe in 147 days and one hour.
Brauer grew up on Long Island and graduated from East Hampton High School in 2012.
She discovered sailing in 2014 while attending the University of Hawaii and then ventured into solo sailing.
Polish captain Krystyna Chozinowska-Riskiewicz became the first woman to circumnavigate the world solo, covering 31,166 nautical miles from 1976 to 1978.
In 2005, Dame Ellen MacArthur covered 27,354 nautical miles in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. This was the fastest solo circumnavigation of the world record at the time.
Brauer hopes to be the same inspiration as sailing’s pioneers.
“When someone says, ‘You can’t do that,’ I try harder and harder. And I’m like, ‘Okay, watch me,'” she told NBC. “It would be great if there was one other girl who could look at me and say, ‘Oh, I can do that too.’
