ISLE OF WIGHT yachtswoman Emma Richards was looking forward to sleeping in "a bed which does not move" yesterday after completing her record-breaking 29,000-mile Around Alone round the world race.

The 28-year-old from Cowes helmed the 60ft racer Pindar across the finish line at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, at 9.15pm UK time on Sunday to be welcomed by her family, a flotilla of small craft and hundreds of well-wishers on the dockside.

The elated Emma became the first woman and the youngest person to complete the five-leg race.

After finishing fourth overall and fifth on the final leg she was given a champagne welcome by her mother and father Margaret and Bryan as well as other members of her family.

Emma had kept the place from the first leg of the race but lost it in the final days.

"I cannot believe this is actually over," she said. "I have literally lived, eaten, breathed and slept this race.

"It only seems yesterday I set off and yet I have done 30,000 miles. It was probably the biggest challenge I will face in my life."

But she went on: "The solitude was soul destroying" adding that she was "looking forward to having a few beers with my family and friends and sleeping in a bed that does not move".

In a statement, her parents Margaret and Bryan, said: "We are immensely proud of her fantastic achievement.

"The worst moment for us was when she had to climb the mast. She has performed beyond everyone's expectations."

Emma, formerly from Hamble, was welcomed by a flotilla before stepping onto dry land to be met by throngs of well-wishers.

She battled through what she described as the "The perfect storm" 250 miles from port when winds gusting up to 70 mph and mountainous seas battered her vessel.

The yachtswoman was hit by the storm shortly after revealing that she hated sailing alone.

Speaking days before landfall, she said: "I have proved to myself I hate single handed sailing." Her solo voyage was "far too long for any sane person".