Cole Brauer, a skipper from Long Island, New York, made history Thursday when she became the first American woman to sail around the world.
The 29-year-old tearfully reunited with her family after arriving in Spain after 130 days at sea, where she drank champagne from her trophy to toast her achievement.
Bauer had taken part in the Global Solo Challenge, a terrifying 26,000-nautical-mile race that started in October off the coast of A Coruña – a port city in Spain’s northwestern Galicia region.
‘Great finish!!!! So excited! Thank you to everyone who pitched in and made this process possible,” she wrote in an Instagram caption alongside a photo of her standing on the side of her boat waving sparklers as she docks.
Brauer finished second in the race, behind French skipper Philippe Delamare, who won the challenge on February 24 after 147 days and one hour of sailing around the world.
Cole Brauer, a skipper from Long Island, became the first American woman to sail around the world
Brauer competed in the Global Solo Challenge, a terrifying 26,000 nautical mile race
Of the 19 sailors competing, Brauer was the only woman with only seven of the field left in the race after withdrawals and abandonments.
Brauer, who stands just 6 feet tall and has a 100-pound frame, completed the treacherous journey aboard her racing boat, named “First Light” — a 40-foot monohull sailboat typically with a crew of one or two .
“She has a strong pedigree and has been loved since her inception,” Brauer said of the boat on her sailing profile. “I know the boat better than any other boat I’ve ever sailed. We understand each other well.’
Brauer deliberately delayed her arrival as she neared the finish line to coordinate with first light in honor of her boat.
Her route first took her along the west coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, before entering the waters of the Southern Ocean in early December.
She reached the Pacific Ocean on December 29 and since she had not celebrated the holidays at home, she decorated First Light with a small felt Christmas tree and brought out a dress and champagne for New Year’s Day.
The New York resident traveled past Cape Horn – the southernmost point of South America – and survived the infamously deadly Drake Passage, the turbulent strait that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans just above Antarctica, re-entering the Atlantic on January 27 Ocean inside.
The 29-year-old popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate being back on dry land
The New York resident traveled past Cape Horn and re-entered the Atlantic Ocean on January 26 and 27
Her 100th day at sea came during her final stretch across the Atlantic Ocean on February 5.
Brauer documented her journey on social media and provided her 460,000 Instagram followers with regular updates.
She revealed that she suffered a rib injury in December when she was thrown over First Light as a result of broaching – the unintentional change of direction of a boat towards the wind – in the rough waters off Africa.
“Solo sailors, you have to be able to do everything,” Brauer told NBC on March 3. ‘You have to be able to get up even when you are so exhausted and you have to be able to fix everything on the boat. ‘
Brauer documented her journey and provided her 459,000 followers with regular updates
Brauer grew up on Long Island, but attended the University of Hawaii in 2014 before finding her foundation in solo sailing.
Polish skipper Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz became the first woman to sail solo around the world when she sailed 31,166 nautical miles from 1976 to 1978.
In 2005, Dame Ellen MacArthur completed 27,354 nautical miles in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds, which at the time was the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the world.
Frenchman Francois Gabart holds the current record and completed the journey in 2017 in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.