My parents woke me up at 4 a.m. but my eyes were already wide open with excitement. In pitch dark we drowsily strolled down the edge of the breakwater wrapped up warmly. We waited several hours till we could see Cole in the distance, her dark grey sails perched on the horizon.

Cole Brauer finished a voyage of a lifetime, sailing solo non-stop around the world in the Global Solo Challenge, which has a vigorous 30,000-mile route that starts and finishes in A Coruña, Spain. At age 29, Cole was the youngest in the race and the only female. She is the first American female to race nonstop around the world. Sailing solo around the world via the great capes is a feat that under 200 people have ever achieved.

The three great capes are Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin. Cape Horn is the most dangerous, located at the bottom of South America. This is because many storms and strong winds funnel through the gap between the Cape and Antarctica. You also must be very cautious sailing through it in the winter because there are massive icebergs that are shielded from vision in the wall of choppy waves that can attain heights of 100 feet.

Sixteen people started the race; only seven remain. True to her boat’s name, Cole finished the race at first light - 8:23 a.m. on the 7th of March 2024. Cole came second to Phillipe Delmare, a 61-year-old yacht skipper. She was welcomed by many media outlets and a crowd of eager fans, her family and friends. Cole broke the world record for the fastest person to do a solo circumnavigation in a Class 40 (her type of boat).

Born in New York, Cole lives in Newport, Rhode Island, USA in her van, saving every penny for her campaign. Her parents live in Maine and in Florida in the winter. She has a twin sister, Dalton, who is also a keen sailor. Cole is supported by a team including a project manager, a sailmaker, a media manager, a photographer, two medics, an electronics specialist and a rigger.

Cole previously tried to participate in the Ocean Race, another around the world boat race done in teams but at 100 pounds and a mere five foot two she didn’t make the team. This was not because of her lack of skill. They turned her away because they thought she was too small and not strong enough for the physicality of the adventure. Cole did not let this stop her, if anything this rejection motivated her to show people that they should never give up on their dreams but fight for them to come true. This quality also reflects on her early in the race when she injured her ribs by a wave hitting the side of her boat, throwing her across the cabin. She also became dehydrated because of sickness and had to self-administer an IV.

Cole has a very popular social media presence, as of today she has a whopping 492k followers and added 50k just this week. She had only 7k before the start of the race. During the race she posted themed events such as tracker Tuesday when she showed where she was going and what route she was taking. She did this via Starlink, a satellite communication system operated by Space X, providing internet to people all over the world.

Historically sailing has been thought of as a man’s sport. Cole believes that you don’t have to act like a man to be successful at sailing and be accepted in the sailing community. She hopes by doing this she can motivate more females to show that they can compete at the highest level and prove to the world that women are as capable as men. Cole shows her followers that you can be yourself. You can be a girly girl and still be strong, determined and resilient.

Cole posted every day and loved making fun videos for her followers to view. Many people love Cole and think she is a bright, energetic, positive and most of all fun person. Cole believes that even though you are racing solo around the world you can do it in comfort and maintaining good mental health is a key to success. She painted her nails on the boat and had spa days, where she took a few hours to do what she liked. She watched movies, Formula One racing and has a teddy bear called Bjorn who kept her company throughout the journey.

Here is a bit of information to whet your appetites. Cole had to eat freeze dried food and drank desalinated water. She had to ration what snacks she had. She ran out of most snacks two months before she finished, including Haribo and hot cocoa. She also had to eat moldy bread for weeks. What did she miss most? At the end of the race, she craved a croissant and a cappuccino. What would you want after 130 days at sea?

I think Cole is a great person. The qualities that she shows most people seek within themselves. I have known Cole for a while because she taught me sailing at the age of 7 and was always a very fun instructor. She also raced on my parents’ boat, Skyrocket. My family adore Cole and know she will go far and achieve great things.

The question we are dying to know is what is next? Cole’s next goal is to compete in the painstakingly difficult single handed non-stop round the world yacht race the Vendée Globe, in 2028. The hardest part of this race is that you are not allowed any shore assistance or other technical support. The Vendée Globe is sailed with IMOCA 60, an extremely high-performance racing boat which can reach a top speed of 35 knots or 65 kilometres per hour. Will Cole finish? We have to “sea...!”

Angus Preston, 11, of Boothbay Harbor and London, England, wrote this article about watching Cole Brauer cross the finish line in A Coruña, Spain. Angus’s grandparents are Tom and Debrah Yale of Boothbay Harbor. Photos were supplied by Angus’ father, Craig.