Emma's very able seaman

SCOTS yachtswoman Emma Richards has recruited her boyfriend to join her on her next race.

The record-breaking star will set sail in just over four weeks.

And she has chosen 32-year-old New Zealand boyfriend Mike Sanderson - an America's Cup star and regarded as one of the world's leading sailors - to provide the muscle.

The pair will set off in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre event from Le Havre, France, to Bahia de Salvador in Brazil on November 1 on Emma's new Pindar yacht.

But Emma, 28, from Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, says there will be no time for fun with Mike during the race.

"I'm looking forward to sailing with him - he's the best co- skipper I could have picked in the world," said Emma.

"Our aim is to win the race, so we won't be jeopardising that for a couple of hours of fun along the way - but we've definitely become stronger together after sailing and working together.

"He's a big guy and he's strong, which is what I was lacking in the Around Alone event. It will be very intense, you don't have time for anything other than the race."

Emma sailed into the record books earlier this year by becoming the youngest competitor to complete the single-handed round-the- world race Around Alone.

She braved 70mph winds and storms and complained her arms were so big they would "scare my boyfriend".

The couple plan to move to New Zealand for a few months after the race so Emma can write a book. She said: "I'll have plenty of time to have fun then."

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