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A CORUNA, Spain >> Cole Brauer braved three oceans and bad weather all by himself while piloting a yacht for several months.
Today, when she and her 40-foot yacht arrived in La Coruña, Spain, the 29-year-old became the first American woman to attempt a solo, non-stop 30,000-mile race around the world.
Ms. Brauer, who stands 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds, is one of more than a dozen sailors competing in the Global Solo Challenge. She Brauer was the youngest and only woman in the group that set sail from La Coruña in October.
The starts were staggered. Brauer took off on Oct. 29, but as of today, several people in the field have dropped out of the race.
The race took Brower south along the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and then east to Australia. Proceeding east from there, Brauer faced the unpredictable and dangerous Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, then crossed the Atlantic Ocean and headed northeast toward Spain.
The race took 130 days to complete.
“This is really cool and overwhelming in every sense of the word,” Braugher said today before drinking the trophy champagne as he was congratulated by his family and fans, according to NBC News.
Even with a fully crewed ship, sailing is not easy.
“As a solo voyager, you have to be able to do everything,” Brauer told NBC’s “Today” show today. “You have to be able to take care of yourself. You have to be able to get up, even if you’re very tired. And you have to be able to fix everything on the boat.”
Satellite communication has allowed Brauer to stay in touch with her race team and connect with fans on social media, posting videos of her races and her boat “First Light.”
Along the way, she encountered waves as high as 30 feet (9.1 meters), which threw her boat around, according to NBC News.
She injured her ribs and was also given an IV drip to prevent dehydration.
Sailing solo means not only being the captain, but also the project manager, race organizer Marco Nannini said. He said that means steering the ship, making repairs, knowing the weather and staying healthy.
“Your greatest asset is not your physical strength, but your mental strength,” Nannini said. “Cole is showing it to everyone.”
One of Ms. Brauer’s Dec. 8 social media posts showed her frustration.
“I haven’t had time to catch up on everything that’s happened in the last 48 hours, but long story short, the autopilot started working again, so I replaced some parts and readjusted the rudder. It needed to be done,” she wrote. . “For a time, the light air is actually helping, but I’m exhausted and feeling sore and tired.”
“It’s all part of the journey, and I think you’ll feel better after work and a little sleep,” Brauer added. “But things are tough right now.”
However, she has coped with tough situations even though some sports officials believed it was impossible due to her gender and small size.
“When someone says, ‘No, you can’t do that,’ or ‘You’re too small,’ I push harder,” Brauer said.
“I think it would be great if there was at least one other girl who could look at me and say, ‘Oh, I can do this too,'” she added.
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