Congratulations to Cole Brauer, who finished second in the Global Solo Challenge, becoming the first American woman to race solo nonstop around the world, traveling roughly 28,000 miles, in her 40′ sailboat First Light.
Brauer, at 29 years old, was also the youngest and only woman in the fleet of 16 competitors that set sail in October from A Coruna, Spain. She arrived back in A Coruna last Thursday after a 130-day circumnavigation, rounding the three great capes.
Standing at 5’2″ and weighing 100 pounds, she faced a grueling race in which more than half of the competitors have dropped out, so far.
During the voyage, she encountered 30-foot waves that tossed her about the boat, injuring a rib. She even gave herself an IV to fend off dehydration.
Sailing solo means not just being a skipper but a project manager, said Marco Nannini, the race’s organizer. That means steering the vessel, making repairs, knowing the weather and keeping yourself healthy, he told the AP.
“The biggest asset is your mental strength, not the physical one,” Nannini said. “Cole is showing everyone that.”
She told a reporter that her goal was to race around the world before she was thirty, and she indeed succeeded.