Cole Brauer, the “viral” sailor who set a new record

American Cole Brauer, 30, with his Class 40 First Light, a 2008-dated boat designed by Owen Clark Design, is the second competitor to cross the finish line of the Global Solo Challenge in La Coruna. As we had told you, the winner of the regatta organized by Marco Nannini, and open to monohulls of different types and sizes, was Philippe Delamare with his Actual 46. Andrea Mura on the Open 50 Vento di Sardegna, on the other hand, is in third position with still a few days of sailing ahead.

Classifications aside, which in this event are calculated on the basis of IRC tonnages and by deriving a discounted rebate time at the start (the slowest start first and then the fastest, in a criterion that has stirred some controversy among Italian “supporters”), there is no doubt, however, that the character that has emerged from this particular solo challenge around the world is the American sailor.

Cole Brauer – The sailor who bewitched the web

Thirty-year-old Long Island American living in Maine., under the appearance of the girl who pierces screens with her green eyes and content from hundreds of thousands of views, there is actually a multifaceted sailor who has ranged from offshore to inshore sailing in his sports career. There is no shortage of experience on maxiyachts in Brauer’s sailing resume, as well as monotypes such as Melges and flying boats such as the Waszp, outlining a complete all-around sailor.

As the weeks have passed, Cole Brauer has gone viral on social media, starting with her Instagram page from which reels are posted that are then re-shared by hundreds and hundreds of users. And not only on social media, as his story also ended up in the pages of the New York Times and some of the major American media.

In addition to her merits as a sailor during the Global Solo Challenge, both in getting the boat to the finish line and in dealing with a good number of technical breakdowns successfully, Brauer’s communication skills are also impressive. Standing just under 160 cm tall and weighing just shy of 50 kg, as she herself admitted in an official note released to the regatta organization, she also broke the stereotype that ocean sailors must necessarily have a “behemoth” physique, while showing in her videos a perfect shape shaped by multidisciplinary physical training.

 

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Departing on October 29 from La Coruna, it closes with a sailing time of less than 130 days. We are not quoting the chronometer at random; the reference on the complete circumnavigation in Class 40 is by the late Guo Chuan, who in 2013 took 137 days to sail around the globe passing by the three Heads of the Great South. Brauer’s is thus shaping up to be a new benchmark for Class 40s in nonstop sailing.

Supported by media manager and friend Lydia Mullan, she found a personal and successful communication style while navigating around the world. Almost always cheerful even on difficult days, but unafraid to show herself as fragile, Brauer has focused heavily on the expressiveness of her face, which is always well captured in the foreground during her content, and on her ability to share her emotions in a way that feels very natural and unartificial.

 

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Following her on the web are not only female sailors, who have found in her a new source of inspiration, but it is the entire sailing community that crosswise sympathizes with the fate of this American girl about whom we will most likely hear more. Not surprisingly, it appears he may put up a project with a view to Vendée Globe 2028.

Mauro Giuffrè