In the four months that separate the departure from A Coruña and his imminent return to the city after completing the solo circumnavigation of the world, Cole Brauer has become a global phenomenon. His feat has inspired almost half a million people who follow his publications on social networks every day and the press from all over the world has echoed his path. An impact that not even his team, who has been scanning the horizon from the Marina Coruña dock for two days, could dream of, no matter how much he trusted one hundred percent in his chances of reaching the finish line. Nobody wants to miss his arrival, scheduled for Wednesday. It will be necessary for the public to register on the Global Solo Challenge website. But authorities such as Mayor Inés Rey and the president of Dépor, Álvaro García Diéguez, will also attend, who will present him with a blue and white shirt. A pink piece of clothing from the A Coruña team, which she got during her stay in the city in October, including a visit to Riazor, has already traveled with her on the boat.
Brauer, with the Deportivo shirt in the month of October. | // LOC / María Varela
Brendon Scanlon and Duncan Nevard are, except for their parents, who have also been walking through A Coruña since yesterday, two of the most nervous people waiting for Brauer to set foot on land. The project director and the person in charge of the technological part have barely left her since July of last year. First in Newport (United States) they worked hard to fine-tune the ship. Then they accompanied her to A Coruña and during the month of October they continued with the work until the night before. And since their departure, they monitor, together with a doctor and a nurse, their condition 24 hours a day. “I’ve been sleeping all this time with my phone pressed to my ear in case he needs me,” says Nevard, “and he only called me once in the middle of the night.” “Just one? I’m going to be jealous,” Scanlon jokes.
The two try to explain the phenomenon they are experiencing. “Part of life is being part of something bigger than yourself. I have found that,” reflects the project director, who met Brauer as rivals in the water. “Cole is the fiercest competitor I have ever met. She is so mentally strong…the competitiveness of her, the determination of her to be the best she is and the desire of her to win and to reach the best level of her…I have certainly never seen another sailor like her. she. She believes that there is no reason to go compete if you are not going to be the best. And she will do everything she can to be the best, she will work as hard as she can, she will train as hard as she can, just to be the best,” she explains. Nevard also faced her in sailing competitions. “There’s nothing she’s not willing to try, whether it’s fixing something that’s broken, pushing something, or getting to the bottom of a challenge. Even before she can offer advice, she has already sent me pictures of how she is trying to fix it. Sometimes you have to tell her: she waits a little! And she always does it with the same passion of trying to be the best,” she says.
But the real revolution has been his way of communicating. “He has changed the sport of sailing forever because of what he has done and how he has done it. He has inspired many people. More than 50% of the 445,000 followers he has are not from this world. On New Year’s Day I took the time to read the comments. And he cried. A mother told her that her daughter was six years old and that she was her hero, because thanks to her she knew that he could do anything he set his mind to. He is very inspiring,” notes Scanlon. “Her message to the world is: I am a woman, I am going around the world, I have been told many times that I couldn’t, that I am too young and too small to do this, but I am going to do it anyway. What he has done is incredible because it is completely genuine. He is just a normal person telling thousands of people about his experience. And the difficult thing is not to change that and not lose its essence. “Her communications director, Lydia, has done a great job with her,” he adds.
Behind Brauer there is an entire team made up of the two of them, the medical staff (Katie and Jess), a meteorologist in charge of tactics (Chelsea), a press officer (Lydia), a surveyor (David), a photographer (Richard) and the Gorilla Rigging group. At the moment, only Brendon Scanlon and Duncan Nevard have arrived in the city and the rest will join until Wednesday. There will be about thirty, with immediate family and closest friends included, who will wait for her. “I don’t know if we are emotionally prepared for it,” they respond: “We are a family.” They have been hard months. Duncan suffered from his health problems in the early days. Brendon in case we had to stop to repair the autopilot — he even booked a ticket to Australia and three docks in different parts of the country. But he has been worth it. He will make history. Not only in this Global Solo Challenge, but for what awaits him. “This is only the beginning,” they warn.
2024-03-03 05:01:44
#Cole #Brauer #phenomenon
