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Emma Richards to sail Around Alone

Richards will aim to be the second British woman to sail solo around the world

LONDON, England -- British sailor Emma Richards has announced she will compete in the 2002-2003 Around Alone yacht race, becoming the second woman to enter the 28,000-mile yachting marathon.

Richards, who was part of Amer Sports Too's all-female crew in the Volvo Ocean Race, will be sailing the 60-foot monohull Gartmore in the Open 60 Class.

The high-profile yachtswoman is the only female, the only Brit and the youngest of the 18 skippers enrolled in the five-leg race, which begins and ends in the U.S.

French yachtswoman Isabelle Autissier is the only woman to have previously started the race (when it was the BOC Challenge). She competed on three occasions.

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Richards will become the second British yachtswoman to sail solo around the world, joining Ellen MacArthur, 25, who became the fastest woman to sail around the world and placed second in the Vendee Globe last year.

MacArthur also became the youngest-ever finisher in the Vendee race, a non-stop race beginning and ending in France, and only the second person to sail round the world solo in less than 100 days.

Richards took part in British sailor Tracy Edwards' 1998 Jules Verne Trophy attempt in the 27-metre catamaran Royal & SunAlliance (RSA), and was scheduled to participate in the Edwards' 2003 attempt on board the catamaran Club Med.

The Jules Verne race is an open challenge involving a non-stop dash round the world from the English Channel, round the Cape of Good Hope, through the seas around Antarctica, past Cape Horn and back to the English Channel.

Richards said on the Around Alone Web site: "I have no doubt that this will be the challenge of my life. As well as facing some great competitors and top class boats, the race is going to be both physically and mentally demanding."

She will be sponsorted by Pindar, a British-based print and electronic media company.

The Around Alone starts from New York City, New York on September 15.