THE loneliness of the long-distance sailor was one of the hardest things Hampshire's record-breaking Emma Richards had to deal with during her epic voyage in the Around Alone Race.

The sole British entrant in the race, the youngest at 28 and also the only female competitor is a people person.

Each Friday she and her former 'two-handed' teammate Miranda Merron would catch up via satellite phone and she supplemented her solitary days onboard Pindar by listening to cds of friends and family.

They were there to greet Richards, away from her Hamble flat for nine months, when she arrived back at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday. So was her mentor, Tracy Edwards, together with her daughter McKenna.

And, after her gruelling five-leg Around Alone Race, Richards professed to jumping straight back into crewed yachting.

Ellen MacArthur hit the headlines with her tremendous achievements in the Vendee Globe race and various transatlantic dashes. Richards, however, has vowed never to attempt a Vendee entry.

But she is seemingly and quite deservedly still being turned into the second female icon of the sailing world in the 21st century.

Richards sailed into Newport, Rhode Island, USA on Sunday in fourth place overall narrowly missing a podium slot in the latter stages of the round-the-world race.

The Italian, Simone Bianchetti on Tiscali, dismasted days from the finish but still managed to wedge himself between Richards and third place.

The Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm, who built his own boat, getting to know it's every tick early on, won each leg and finished with a clean slate ahead of rival Frenchman Thierry Dubois.

Upon arrival Richards declared she was ready for a bath, beer and good company - not to mention nights in a solid, dry bed. Her ecstatic parents and siblings, all of whom sail, were relieved to see her back on land.

Margaret, her mother with whom she had exchanged e-mails every day, recounted the worry of when her daughter had to climb the 80-foot rig in the Southern Ocean to reattach a halyard.

It was tough going right up until then end for the feisty Scottish-born lass. A terrific storm tested the class one fleet in their final miles into the Eastern Seaboard. Fifty knot winds and breaking seas threatened Pindar as she crossed the Gulf Stream.

At the end of November in Cape Town after her second leg on Pindar, Emma imparted that she couldn't quite fathom the interest in her and certainly not appreciate the depth of interest in her solo yachting challenge.

Now back in Britain, plans for her next voyage are already well advanced. She is to return to double-handed racing with Miranda Merron for the Transat Jacques Vabre leaving Le Havre, Northern France bound for Bahia in November with the continued and energetic sponsorship from Pindar.