When East Hampton’s Cole Brauer finishes the round-the-world Global Solo Challenge sailing race, she will “make the history books by becoming the first American female ever to complete a solo, nonstop circumnavigation by the three great capes, joining an elite of fewer than 200 humans who have achieved this — ever,” Marco Nannini, organizer of the race, said in a report Friday.
The 29-year-old Brauer, who rounded Cape Horn that day, “even before reaching the end of this adventure” had joined “a special group who have had the honor of rounding Cape Horn by sail,” Nannini continued, “and will thus become a member of the International Asociation of Cape Horners, and as such she will receive a congratulatory message from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston himself, the first person to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation in 1968-69.”
Sailing aboard First Light, Brauer remained in second place behind Philippe Delamare as of Monday.
In approaching Cape Horn from the South Pacific on her way to the finish line at A Coruña, Spain, “she’s had to weave her way through several difficult storms in an attempt to find the path of least resistance to reach the cape,” Nannini wrote.
“So happy to be back in my home waters,” Brauer posted on her Instagram account, @colebraueroceanracing, on Saturday, “. . . sun came out . . . gentle waves behind . . . gorgeous . . . I’m coming home!”
She is expected to reach A Coruña by late February or early March.