To the sailing world Cole Brauer is the Instagram equivalent of Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Brauer has more than half a million followers on the social-media platform, 450,000 more than Sir Ben Ainslie, and while small in stature at just 5ft 2in she is making a big noise in sailing circles.

But the 31-year-old is far from all style and no substance as she gained her legion of admirers by detailing her journey on the way to becoming the first American woman to sail nonstop around the world in 2024.

A year earlier, she was first across the line in the Bermuda 1-2 solo leg, crossing more than ten hours ahead of her nearest rivals on corrected time.

Brauer has also been outspoken about the difficulties she faced in attempting to break into a male dominated world and before she gave a presentation at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to aspiring sailors of both sexes last week, she was clear what she wanted the young men in the room to take away from the session.

“I want the young boys to feel afraid of the young women that are coming up in society,” Brauer said.

“Not afraid in a way of running and hiding, but a fear that they have competition and that women are coming up in such a strong, beautiful way and they are not doing it in the typical fashion.

“They are learning different paths on how to get to the same position as the men and it's actually making them amazing at what they're doing.

“It doesn’t matter if it has to do with sailing or if they want to be lawyers or doctors or whatever. My message can be taken in any way that they choose and if boys become complacent we will take over the world one day.”

Since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's pioneering voyage in 1969, fewer than 200 people have sailed solo and nonstop around the world, but despite Brauer’s achievement she feels she is still struggling for acceptance.

A recent trip to England to compete in the Admiral’s Cup brought her continuing struggle firmly into focus as she got the sense that her male counterparts felt she was there more for her content-creating ability than her skills on the boat.

“The Admiral’s Cup was fabulous, but I was the only woman on the boat and there was only two of us from about 40 sailors,” Brauer said.

“They were calling me the Instagram girl and there was definitely a perception that I was only there because of my content creation and not because of my talent as a professional racer.

“I had to fully go back into proving myself, which I thought we were well past. I had to earn the respect of my peers and show them that I'm not here to be pushed around and I'm here to compete just like anyone else.

“It’s funny how even though I had gone around the planet very successfully, enjoyed every single moment and had all these miles under my belt that I still am having to fight.

“What else do I have to do? Do I have to go to Mars to get some form of respect in this industry? Maybe I should be happy that I'm the one that has to take the brunt and hopefully later generations of women and young adults will be able to compete without backlash.”

Brauer is approachable, funny and refreshingly honest, with her authenticity one of the key factors in her social media success and the growth in followers organic more than the product of a business plan.

“I didn’t go to school for business so I would say I am a terrible business woman,” She said.

“But I at least had the whereabouts to understand that I didn't want to just go around the planet and make nothing of it. I wanted other people around the globe to see what this was and then feel inspired to do their own dream.

“Maybe it doesn't have to do with sailing, it could just be going to that yoga class that you’ve wanted to go to but felt like you couldn’t.

“It really was never supposed to get this big and I didn't understand how fast it was growing and that all these people are really into what we’re doing. We are such a small grass roots team and I was a very local person so it didn’t really hit me until I got back.

“There were people at my finish line and all of a sudden people wanted to see me on the news. It was wildly out of control, I was not media trained and I really didn’t know exactly what I wanted to get out of it.

“Maybe my biggest mistake was I just assumed I would go to sleep for like two weeks and then go back to being the boat captain that I was and be hidden away from society.

“This has never been about the clicks or the views. It was about my portfolio and I was quite proud of it. It was like my artistic work and it still is my most prized possession, but I don't post unless I feel really present and in love with what I’m doing.”

Brauer gave up medical school to follow her sailing dream and although not helping members of society to physically heal you can’t but feel that her profile and opinions are still helping the community in profound ways.

“I’ve only ever wanted to be a sailor and I’m just out there battling for acceptance,” she said.

“But now I definitely feel there's quite a big weight on my shoulders as the person who has opened the door and I'm holding it open the best that I can, but there’s still a lot of people trying to close it behind me.

“But I've learnt now that I shouldn’t pretend to try to be something that I'm not and if people don't want to follow and don’t want to participate, that’s OK.”