Emma Richards is a 28 year old British yachtswoman who is taking the sailing world by storm.
She is a friendly and hugely popular personality whose exploits in the 2002 - 2003 Around Alone
solo yacht race proved she has talent, guts and determination in equal measure.
Her epic round-the-world voyage started on 15th September 2002 in New York, and when she
crossed the finish line on Sunday 4th May 2003 she had sailed over 30,000 miles and smashed a
number of records in the process. As well as becoming the first British woman and youngest ever
competitor to complete what is considered to be the longest race for any individual in any sport,
she received the praise of sailing fans from all over the world who had followed her heroic
circumnavigation from start to finish.
Unsurprisingly, Emma's immense sailing talent has come from spending almost a lifetime on the water.
She was sailing optimists as a toddler, and by the time she was 11 she was competing in dinghy world
championships. After leaving school she went to Glasgow University where she became a member of the
Scottish National Olympic training squads.
Months after gaining her degree in sports medicine she broke into ocean racing when she was
selected as a member of Tracy Edwards' all-girl crew for the Jules Verne Trophy (the round-the-world
speed record) in 1998. At the age of just 23, she was the youngest crew-member aboard Tracy's
maxi-catamaran, Royal Sun Alliance. They were on-course to capture the record when they were
dismasted in the middle of the Southern Ocean. Fortunately, none of the crew was injured and they
managed to sail to safety.
Emma launched her professional sailing career as a skipper in 1999 when she secured sponsorship
from Pindar, a British-based print and electronic media company. Since then, she has won her class
in three of ocean racing's most prestigious races.
Teaming up with fellow Brit, Miranda Merron, she won the Open 50 class of the Transat Jacques
Vabres in 1999. 2000 proved an even better year as they won the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race,
breaking the all-female speed record in the process. And taking part in a single-handed race for the
first time, Emma secured victory in the Open 50 class of the Europe 1 New Man Star (Plymouth to Rhode I
sland, USA).
Still in Pindar's colors, Emma took the step-up to multi-hull sailing in 2001 when she teamed
up with Miki Von Koskull to co-skipper a 60-foot trimaran in the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre,
from Le Havre to Brazil. Despite competing in a slightly older boat than her rivals,
Emma acquitted herself admirably to finish in 9th place.
At the start of 2002, Emma was called up to join the all-female Amer Sports Too crew for the 4th
and 5th legs of the Volvo Ocean Race from New Zealand to Brazil via the Southern Ocean, and Rio de
Janeiro to Miami respectively.
Twelve months later she returned to the same waters in the final stages of Around Alone.
The only difference was that, this time, she had to face the Southern Ocean on her own.
Despite loathing the 'soul-destroying solitude' of solo sailing, Emma gritted her teeth, and after
132 days at sea, completed what was undoubtedly the biggest challenge of her life.
For more information go to: http://www.pindar.com/aroundalone/index.asp
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