SHE DID IT! Singlehanding Phenom Cole Brauer Finished Global Solo Challenge
Update Thursday a.m.: At about 11:23 p.m. PST/8:23 a.m. CET, Cole Brauer crossed the finish line in A Coruña, Spain, as the second-place finisher in the Global Solo Challenge and the first American woman to complete a solo-circumnavigation race, setting a record for the fastest solo circumnavigation aboard a Class 40 sailboat. It was a picture-perfect finish as her Class 40 First Light crossed the finish line off the breakwater after 130 days at sea as the pink skies of the sunrise were bringing the first light of the day. With over 10,000 of her now 450,000 Instagram followers crossing the finish line with her “live” broadcast and an appearance on this morning’s Today show, Cole has sailed into a new life ashore and will surely be bringing thousands of admiring women and fans everywhere along with her spectacular accomplishment. She’s done an amazing job at sailing around the world solo and at connecting and inspiring many more to see and understand sailing. Cole’s 30th birthday is just a couple of months away! Happy birthday, Cole.
Her accomplishment is reminiscent of Ellen MacArthur’s record-breaking solo circumnavigation in 2005 when, at age 28, she became the fastest solo circumnavigator in the world, breaking the record with a 71-day sail around on her carbon fiber trimaran B&Q.
5:30 p.m. PST Update: Cole Brauer has just informed the organizers she will deliberately slow down to arrive, as her boat First Light would have wanted it, at first light: March 7, 7 to 7:30 a.m. A Coruña time (CET) and 1 to 1:30 a.m. EST (New York); March 6, 10 to 10:30 p.m. PST (Los Angeles).
FLASH:Â With 66 miles to go at 2:30 p.m. PST and traveling at 11.7 knots, Cole will likely finish on Wednesday, California time, and very early Thursday morning in Spain.
Cole Brauer will turn 30 on May 24. She learned to sail at the University of Hawaii and has been racing solo around the world since October 28. Her rock-solid performance aboard her Class 40 First Light sees her racing toward a second-place finish in the Global Solo Challenge with less than 130 miles to to go. Watched by her dramatically expanded cadre of social media followers — over 400,000 on Instagram — and with her story being covered in the New York Times and other major media, she has amassed an immense fan base as she approaches the finish in A Coruña, Spain.
Brauer’s sailing and social posting have both been remarkably consistent and have inspired many to follow her closely below the great capes, across the Southern Ocean, and north through the Atlantic. She is looking to become the first American woman to complete a singlehanded, nonstop race around the world and is sitting in a very solid second place. At 5 feet 1 inch and 100 pounds, she’s demonstrated that physical size and power are not a requirement for success. The Class 40 is very popular in Europe as a high-performance shorthanded offshore race boat, with some growing popularity in the States. Local boats such as California Condor, Glass Slipper and Move are all about the scale and power that Cole Brauer has deftly maneuvered around the world while she also entertains everyone with the trials and tribulations she’s faced along the way. Perhaps no other singlehanded race has managed to be as closely experienced by such a large audience.
While there have been many brutal storms and difficult moments during the race, her ever-sunny disposition, skill and determination have come through in almost every post. Clearly the advent of Starlink has changed forever how participants and viewers understand offshore yacht racing. We’ll have to admit being “generationally challenged” by some of how it’s portrayed, and worry about details like what appears to be infrequent use of a harness, but at the same time, we remain in awe of her accomplishment and thrilled to see so many discovering the adventure of sailing through her eyes.
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We’ve all been on board with her, and we join fans everywhere as we look forward to her successful finish in A Coruña as she’s currently reaching along at about 10 knots, reeling in the last hours of her 26,000-mile solo circumnavigation. She should be finishing in the early morning, nine hours ahead of us in California. You can follow her on the tracker here.
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Three-Masted Clipper ‘Stad Amsterdam’ Sails Under Golden Gate Bridge
Though the weather for stunning morning photos was uncooperative, today’s 7:30 a.m. arrival of the Stad Amsterdam was nonetheless impressive after its 25+ day voyage north from the Panama Canal. Stad Amsterdam is a 250-ft three-masted clipper, modeled after a 19th century clipper ship. Built in Amsterdam and launched in 2000 at the Damen Shipyards, she carries 23,500 square feet of sail area with 31 sails and a mainmast height of 153 feet. Impressive!
Call of the Sea’s schooner Seaward and the John A.B. Dillard ignored the early hour and the rain to meet the Stad Amsterdam outside the Gate and welcome her into the Bay.
Watching her entrance from the Marin Headlands, we imagined the 225-ft clipper ship Flying Cloud coming in under the Gate after her record-breaking 89-day, 21-hour sail around Cape Horn from New York to San Francisco in 1851. While the boats are of similar design and scale, the contrast in comfort is dramatic. Flying Cloud would not have had heated cabins, warm showers, auxiliary power, or warm fleece for the crew to wear on chilly (freezing-cold) days around the Horn. The long upwind sail from Cape Horn to San Francisco Bay is daunting on any modern, close-winded vessel, but on a square-rigged clipper ship it would require incredible patience and hard work.
The current record, set in 2013, is 47 days, set by Giovanni Soldini on the 70-ft monohull Maserati. For reference, the current holder of the Jules Verne trophy for the fastest circumnavigation is IDEC Sport, skippered by Francis Joyon: 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds.
The ship will be tied up at piers 30/32 in San Francisco between now and March 23 and will be open for tours on one day only, March 12. On the 23rd she’ll be sailing from San Francisco to Honolulu and then sailing onward from Honolulu to Tokyo. For the voyage from Honolulu to Tokyo, Pat Broderick will be trading in his wishbone-boomed, Wyliecat 30 Nancy for the square-rigged tall ship Stad Amsterdam.
P.S. Thanks to Seawood Photo in San Rafael for helping retrieve morning photos from the camera!
Andersen vs Orbit — Which Winch Best Suits You?
Andersen’s timeless appearance, durability, and strength? Orbit’s sporty light weight, modern features, and patented QuickTrim™ self-tailer? The choice is yours. Learn more at Ronstan.com.
Good Jibes #132: Sharon Green on Being a Sailing Photographer
This week’s host, John Arndt, is joined by sailing photographer Sharon Green to chat about her life capturing the sea. Sharon’s work appears in calendars, on the walls of yacht clubs, and in countless magazines.
Sharon talks about her experience of breaking into the field of marine photography, the challenges a young photographer might face today, her favorite events and locations to shoot, exciting times and scary moments working from a helicopter, and the things she tells skippers to get them photo-ready before a race.
This episode covers everything from photography to helicopters. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear:
- What kind of sailing did Sharon do as a kid?
- How long did her dad race sailboats?
- What’s next for sailing photography?
- Does Sharon shoot any video?
- How much does she work vs. enjoying sailing?
- What are her favorite destinations to photograph?
- How do you vet helicopter pilots?
- Short Tacks: What events would Sharon still like to shoot?
Learn more at UltimateSailing.com.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Bay Area Boaters Unite To Push for Ayala Cove Dock Repair and Upgrade
As we start thinking about the end of winter and the coming spring and summer seasons, we also make a mental note of nearby places we’d like to spend a night or two on our boats. Ayala Cove is always on the list. But we were reminded of the state of the Cove’s docks when we received an email from our friend Cyril Kollock. Cyril told us of a petition that has been created to collect signatures in support of repairing and upgrading the docks.
The petition reads as follows:
This petition is in regards to the current state of the docks at Ayala Cove, Angel Island CA.
As a popular recreational area for boaters and visitors, the docks are in considerable disrepair and hazardous.
It is also [a] popular spot for sea lions which may also potentially leading (sic) to increased damage. Perhaps deterrent measures could be investigated.
Ayala Cove is a beautiful geographic location with frequent use, we request plans and action to repair and upgrade the facilities for functionality and boating safety.
A post on the SF Bay Area Sailing Facebook page by Paul Hollenbach on February 11 alerts sailors to the problem.
Comments on Hollenbach’s post include, “Was just dropping passengers there yesterday, pilings fallen over, dock separated (as this post mentions), and they put up an electric sign telling you not to tie to the outer fingers. DEPLORABLE!!!
” — Allyn Schafer/Kimberly Ayers.
According to the Angel Island Conservancy website, Ayala Cove has the largest public docks and moorings on the Bay. Why, then, are they in such a bad state?
We contacted local sailor Jim Haussener about the issue. Jim replied, “I’ve talked to the Director of Parks and Recreation about this twice. He has told me that they have money budgeted for it. However, when asked about dredging he put that off onto State Lands. Those that are interested, I would encourage to attend the California Boating Congress in Sacramento, March 12 and 13.”
The Boating Congress Jim refers to is an annual meeting of industry groups to hear from statewide leaders, policymakers, legislators and interested parties, and will be attended by state legislators and leaders from the California Department of Parks and the Division of Boating and Waterways. The meeting’s purpose is to “impact state legislators and regulators on issues facing marinas, boating, waterways, and recreation.”
While researching this story we found a notice from 2022, issued by the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation that reads:
PROJECT TITLE: Ayala Cove Boat Dock Replacement-Geotechnical Investigation
LOCATION: Angel Island SP COUNTY: Marin
DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PROJECT: Perform up to 3 exploratory borings within the proposed pier alignment using a barge-mounted drill rig equipped with mud rotary and rock coring drilling techniques. The borings will penetrate at least 15 feet into Franciscan bedrock. Boring depths are expected to be approximately 25-40 feet below the cove bottom and within 500 feet of shore. Drill fluids will be containerized and disposed of off-site. Upon completion, borings will be backfilled with neat cement grout in accordance with MCDEHS permit requirements. The geotechnical work will occur during a construction window of June 15 to October 15, in accordance with USACOE’s NWP 6 requirements. Native American and archeological monitoring will occur during the boring process and includes appropriate BMPs necessary to prevent spoils and drilling fluids from entering the bay.
That suggests to us that the docks have been identified as being in need of repair. But nothing has happened. Perhaps people-power can make this happen.
If you’d like to add your name to the petition, you can do so here: Ayala Cove Dock Restoration Petition.
If you want to attend the California Boating Congress in Sacramento on March 12 and 13, you can register here.
Out of interest, here’s a little snippet of Ayala Cove’s history. “In August of 1775, Lt. Juan Manuel de Ayala, a Spanish Naval officer, sailed the ship the San Carlos into San Francisco Bay and anchored into what is now know as Ayala Cove. The first Europeans to sail into the San Francisco Bay, Ayala and his crew spent forty days making a chart of the area. Following a practice then common among Catholic explorers naming sites for the religious feast days nearest to the time of discovery, Father Vicente, the chaplain of the San Carlos, christened the little island Isla de Los Angeles.”
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