Rich RollThe First American Woman to Race Solo Around the World
Rich Roll
Global solo challenge 0:00
Cole Brower raced 130 days alone and unassisted in the Global Solo Challenge, covering just over 27,000 nautical miles and finishing second. She was the youngest in the field, the only woman, and the first American woman to complete the race. The story is framed around how she shared the physical strain and private moments online, from injury and breakdowns to pajamas, stuffed animals, and dinner for one.
Roots in water 10:02
She grew up on eastern Long Island between wealthy neighbors and a working-class home. Sailing felt out of reach because club access was expensive. Fishing was the first door open to her. She later moved from art school in Georgia to the University of Hawaii, where she found an inclusive sailing community and a Polynesian tradition of reading the sea as an art and a form of navigation.
Facing east coast sailing 17:01
Back on the East Coast, she hits a much harsher sailing world than the one she found in Hawaii. The confidence she brought with her runs into a culture of older, moneyed men, and she feels the pressure of being young, small, and a woman. She says the private side of the sport still shuts out most people, especially women, and that many riders and sailors give up before reaching the top because the path is so slow and blocked.
Winning and pushing back 22:32
A breakthrough comes with the Bermuda One-Two race. She wins the solo leg from Newport to Bermuda by 90 miles, then returns double-handed with a close friend and wins that leg by 60 miles, something no women had done in either division. She wears a wedding dress to the awards ceremony as a direct insult to the establishment. That same urge to show style and defiance, she says, is what helps her keep going when the sport feels closed off.
The Boat and the Offer 34:00
A drunk conversation turns into a real offer. The brothers hear the dream of becoming the first American woman to race solo around the world and decide to back it. They tell her she can run her own program if she works on the boat for free. She already knows the job. She had spent years as the boat captain and preparator, so the learning was not the hard part.
Solo But Not Alone 37:32
The boat is a Class 40, a 40-foot fiberglass racing sailboat, and the race uses a pursuit format. Slower boats start earlier, faster boats later, so you know your place as soon as you finish. The team also pushes unusual tools onto the boat, including Starlink and onboard cameras. She sails alone for 130 days, but she says the trip depends on a hidden crew on shore who help her fix things when they break.
Proving herself 51:01
Growing up a Springs kid in a wealthy place left her with resentment and a need to prove she could amount to something bigger. That drive fed her belief that she could race around the world. She says there was no other option in her mind during the three months of prep. Ten years of showing up early, leaving late, and learning in a world not built for her gave her that confidence.
Fight club lessons 54:30
She says an underground fight club in Carl's basement gave her a place to put frustration, in winters with little to do but drink, do drugs, or get into trouble. It also taught resilience, and she later folded that wild past into the book. After years of being invisible in sailing bars, she was absorbing tactics and navigation while others talked freely, and later saw how the same toughness helped her handle a coach and the sailing world.
Real-time pressure 1:08:01
The race also became a kind of live comparison. Other boats sent out grim photos and blog posts, and she could see how worn down the men looked. Her mother kept saying they looked terrible. At the same time, a few competitors wrote to encourage her, even though none of them finished. Two sank, two lost masts, one had kidney stones, and one dislocated a shoulder. Cracked ribs began to feel small beside that list, and she kept to her diet and meal prep.
Solving everything onboard 1:10:01
The boat carried weight from Starlink, batteries, and 160 days of food. Water came from a desalinator that turned seawater into drinkable water, then had minerals added back in. The food was dehydrated and mixed with boiling water. She had to lose weight and muscle, and she had to learn to give herself IVs, even though she hates needles. The hardest stretch was the first two weeks, when the loneliness of open water and the need to fix every problem herself settled in.
Storms and return 1:25:00
She says she chose the route around two huge cyclones, thing one and thing two, to avoid dying. A later talk with her meteorologist Chelsea confirmed that choice. Back on shore, no one cared that she finished second. What stayed with her was the strange relief of surviving and the sight of people who had flown to Aunia, Spain, just to meet her when she arrived.
Aftermath and acclaim 1:26:00
The race had built a huge public following, from a few thousand Instagram followers to about 450,000. Yet the number never felt real while she was alone at sea. When she came back, the protection around her vanished. She faced days of interviews, felt broken, and found the media attention more painful than the race itself. She also had to relearn ordinary contact and how to fit back into land life.
Reading the sea 1:42:02
She explains how the sea teaches you to read signs: a halo around the sun means rain, and wispy mares' tails can mean a front in two days. Those habits came from growing up in the marsh and feeling close to the land, much like people who know how to track animals or read the sky. That way of knowing is practical, not mystical. It is a deep attention to weather, place, and what is changing around you.
Living with nature 1:44:30
She says the ocean has made her less willing to fight nature. The planet is not dying, she says; humans are harming themselves, and the storms in the Southern Ocean are bigger and scarier than before. Offshore, she lives in routine and present time. Back on land, she tries to keep that focus, avoid consumer pressure, and tell young women and parents that failure is allowed, creativity matters, and children should be free to become who they are.
Leaving fixed identities 1:59:01
She says changing direction can happen in a single day. She left art school for nutrition, bought a plane ticket with her own money, and moved to Hawaii without telling her parents. She sees that choice as ordinary for an artist, because finishing one project means starting another. She pushes back on the idea that you must stay one thing forever. A person can be an engineer, love to paint, and still choose a different life.
Fear and the winning line 2:02:02
She says identities are stories people use to feel safe, but clinging to them can trap you. What helps, she says, is trying new work without fear of judgment. She was bad at sailing at first, yet kept showing up until it became a healthier obsession than drugs or alcohol. She then describes the Bermuda 1 2 race, where she chose a route 90 miles off the rhumb line, used a front moving down the coast, and won without even knowing she had finished first.
Reading the boat 2:16:01
One crewman calls the conditions too dangerous and leaves shift, then another says you are breaking the boat and starts changing settings. Boris stops him and says to let it run. The boat is left alone with you, and it makes up 55 miles that night. Back in debrief, Boris says you felt the boat and handled it well.
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