Battling storms and injuries, Cole Brauer becomes the first American woman to sail solo around the world

Toward the end of her circumnavigation, Brauer said her boat was "deteriorating." During the final week, she shared that "horrendous conditions" were causing serious problems on board.

New York native Cole Brauer, 29, became the first American woman ever to sail solo non-stop around the world on Thursday. Brauer placed second out of 16 sailors who competed in the Global Solo Challenge, a solo circumnavigation race that started in A Coruña, Spain, with participants from 10 countries. Brauer was the only female and the youngest.

“I can’t believe it, guys. I sailed around the world,” Brauer said as she approached the finish line in an Instagram live video. “That’s crazy. That’s absolutely crazy. This is awesome. Let’s just do it again. Let’s keep going!”

Brauer arrived in A Coruña, Spain, on Thursday after a treacherous 130-day journey past the three great capes: Africa's Cape of Good Hope, Australia's Cape Leeuwin and South America's Cape Horn. Brauer traveled 27,711 nautical miles on board "First Light," a 40-foot monohull sailboat, and documented her journey on Instagram.

The skipper shared the ups and downs of her journey on social media, from her on-board workouts to an injury she sustained in December. Brauer was thrown across her boat and injured a rib when the boat inadvertently changed direction in rough seas near Africa. "Never lose respect for the ocean," she said. "That's for sure."

She was even prepared for holidays spent alone at sea, with pumpkin decorations for Halloween, a small Christmas tree and a bottle of bubbly for New Year's.

"I grew up on a nature preserve, wandering through the tall grass of the creek and playing in the mud watching the tide come in," Brauer told Global Solo Challenge. "I spent a lot of time alone exploring nature. I was fascinated with clouds, animal bones, and watching the weather roll by."

Toward the end of her circumnavigation, Brauer said her boat was "deteriorating." During the final week, she shared that "horrendous conditions" were causing serious problems on board.

"On top of all the slamming, there is a lot of water inside the boat; I have now started to use the electric pump to pump out water every 6-10 hours," she wrote on Instagram. She described making "raincoats" out of Ziplock bags to protect the autopilot and the rudder bearing, "but it's not enough."

"I at least know the issues and what are the worse case scenarios and I am monitoring this and making sure that I keep these areas as dry as I can," she wrote.

But it all worked out in the end, as she informed organizers of the Global Solo Challenge that she was deliberately slowing down ahead of her arrival, to pull into the finish line at first light on First Light.

“Amazing finish!!!! So stoked! Thank you to everyone that came together and made this process possible,” she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her waving to flares to mark the end of her journey.

Brauer said she hopes to show the world that a male-dominated sport and community can become more open and less traditional.

"This is changing a mindset that has been set in stone by many boat clubs, yacht clubs, and people (women and men). I will be fighting against the constant sexual, verbal, and physical harassment for not just myself but for the Corinthian and Professional women sailors in this sport. As professional sailors, we have been fighting for many years for equal pay (we are paid significantly less than a man in the same position), we are harassed by teammates, owners, clients, race organizers, and many others in this community. Just as well as this community has built me up it has broken me and my fellow female teammates down. I am doing this race for them."

French sailor Philippe Delamare won the Global Solo Challenge on Feb. 24. He started the race about a month before Brauer and completed his circumnavigation in 147 days and one hour.

TMX contributed to this report

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