Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

Global Solo Challenge: 5 days till Cole Brauer starts out

by Cole Brauer Ocean Racing Media 24 Oct 10:44 BST
Cole Brauer - Global Solo Challenge © Cole Brauer Ocean Racing

In five days, Cole Brauer sets off to become the first American woman to race a sailboat solo around the globe. She will be competing in the Global Solo Challenge, circumnavigating the world by the three great capes and beginning and ending in A Coruña, Spain.

Unlike most circumnavigational ocean races, the Global Solo Challenge has a pursuit start, meaning that the race fleet will include many different types of boats that are assigned a start date based on speed ratings. All other things being equal, the boats could be expected to finish around the same time, leaving the results up to the skill of the sailors and the weather conditions.

The slowest boats began in August and could take upwards of 200 days to finish, while the fastest won't leave until December and may complete the race in as little as 70 days. Brauer, sailing the Class40 First Light, will depart on October 28 and hopes to beat the current Class40 record of 137 days.

At just 29 years old, Brauer is one of five Americans on the roster of 20 skippers competing in the race. She will be the only female sailor in the fleet, and if successful, she will be the first American woman to have raced solo around the globe.

"It's really hard for Americans to be successful in offshore solo sailing, and I think it comes down to money and support. I have both behind me right now, and if young American women growing up can see, through my campaign, that this is possible, they might dream even bigger than what I'm doing," says Brauer.

"I don't notice myself being any different than the other competitors. There's no gender when you're alone on the ocean. You're just a sailor who's out there, who has to make it work," she says. "But when I'm standing on a dock with some of the women on my shore team, I can tell that the energy is different. You can tell that having women on the campaign makes it a better atmosphere, so I don't know why there's so much resistance to equal pay and equal involvement for women in this sport."

After completing the Ocean Globe Challenge, she intends to campaign for the 2028 Vendée Globe—the highest level of solo circumnavigational races. Her race can be best followed at colebraueroceanracing on Instagram or on the Global Solo Challenge's race tracker: globalsolochallenge.com/tracking.

Brauer is a Long Island native who began sailing while attending the University of Hawaii at Minoa.

After moving back east, Brauer spent several years captaining First Light, then called Dragon, for a previous owner who raced the boat primarily in on the east coast and Caribbean circuits. New owners purchased the boat in late 2022 and offered to let her continue sailing it for the season, during which Brauer won the 2023 Bermuda One-Two with co-skipper Cat Chimney. The duo were the first women to win the event in its 24-edition history. The biennial race features two 668-nautical mile legs from Newport, RI to St Georges, Bermuda and back, with the first leg sailed solo and the second doublehanded. After that victory, Brauer set her sights on the Global Solo Challenge.

Her race can be followed at www.instagram.com/colebraueroceanracing

To follow the race tracker, go to globalsolochallenge.com/tracking

Related Articles

Technical skills or mental strength?
Which will be the key to success in the Global Solo Challenge? Challenges are the order of the day for the fifteen competitors still in the Global Solo Challenge. The attrition that took place even before crossing the starting line has been relentless. Posted on 7 Dec
Celebrations & drama in the Global Solo Challenge
Of the 16 boats that started from A Coruna so far, 15 are still in the game It's been another fantastic week of sailing at the Global Solo Challenge, a week full of achievements for many skippers and drama for some. Posted on 5 Dec
Global Solo Challenge - Emotions and perspectives
The ocean, relentless, delves deep into the souls of the sailors Days pass quickly at the GSC, but for the skippers, each hour and day is filled with novelty and surprises: some pleasant, others more challenging to face. Posted on 1 Dec
Global Solo Challenge update
Navigating the unforgiving waters of the southern oceans The latest week in the Global Solo Challenge has seen the majority of the skippers at sea confront, some for the first time, the relentless and dynamic Southern Ocean. Posted on 27 Nov
Kevin Le Poidevin sets off for GSC 2023
Determination to pursue his dream of completing a solo circumnavigation Yesterday, November 23rd at approximately 13:30 local time (12:30 UTC), Kevin Le Poidevin set off in north easterly winds of around 10 knots and a weak late autumn sunshine, from A Coruña aboard his Open 40' Roaring Forty. Posted on 24 Nov
Andrea Mura begins Global Solo Challenge
Circumnavigating the world solo was a dream he no longer wanted to postpone On a gray autumn afternoon in the bay of A Coruña, with light southwesterly winds, Andrea Mura departed on November 18th at 14:00 local time (13:00 UTC) for his Global Solo Challenge, joining the fleet of thirteen competitors already at sea. Posted on 20 Nov
Global Solo Challenge update
From the equatorial calms to the roaring forties Fourteen skippers have departed between August 26 and October 28 to take part in the Global Solo Challenge, with two more setting sail this weekend (November 18). Posted on 16 Nov
Juan Merediz retires from Global Solo Challenge
After 3 days lost repairing halyard and autopilot, problems return Juan Merediz officially announced his withdrawal from the Global Solo Challenge on November 11th due to autopilot issues. The skipper had already directed the bow of his Class40 Sorolla towards the Mediterranean three days earlier. Posted on 14 Nov
Global Solo Challenge update on Andrea Mura
Andrea will set off on November 18th Andrea Mura is driven by a special wind, a wind that carries the name and spirit of his homeland: Sardinia. This wind has not only inspired the name of his project and his boat, "Vento di Sardegna", but also symbolizes the pride he has for his origins. Posted on 10 Nov
Global Solo Challenge update
A brutal trial by fire debut for the late October starters The grand departure of October 29 saw 7 skippers set off from A Coruna to join those who had left in the prior weeks taking the total of boats at sea to 14. Posted on 7 Nov