This weekend sees the final restart of the Around Alone race from Salvador, Brazil to the finish in Newport, Rhode Island.

Hamble's Emma Richards, pictured above, is currently lying in fourth position behind Italy's Simone Bianchetti and will be strategising hard to raise her game on the final leg.

As well as the loyal and long standing support from Pindar and its head Andrew Pindar, Bird's Eye has come onboard and will be putting its name to this talented yachtswoman.

The leg will probably be the last stint that she undergoes as a solo sailor. When asked she commented recently: "I am absolutely sure I don't like single-handed sailing. I don't mind the responsibility. That's fine. There would be more responsibility if you were the skipper of a crew.

"It is things like when everything is going pear-shaped and you could really do with a hand. But also when everything is going so well and the sailing is absolutely perfect you think 'wow, this makes it all worth it' then you think 'I wish there was someone else here to share it with'."

Looking back at her strategy as the race unfolded she added: "The first half was a total mission to be conservative, staying north out of the ice, to keep the boat in one piece so I could race up the other side."

But by sailing further north and not pushing as hard Richards found herself tailing the class one boats. Her strategy after Cape Horn did not go entirely according to plan. "The first half went really well. I totally caught up with Simone Bianchetti and got to within six miles of him and then I got stuck in the same hole as he'd got stuck in for a day and he disappeared off so that was that."

Having got through the tough times and arrived in Salvador at the end of leg four in one piece, followed by a quick a pit stop flight home to see friends and family, Emma is ready to put her all into the final burst. Her goal is to finish on the podium.

The race restarts on April 13.