Sailing: Richards uses Lord of the Rings to frighten away pirates off African coast

Emma Richards, the only woman in the Around Alone race, found herself at the centre of a piracy scare in the early hours of yesterday morning after a run-in with an unidentified vessel off the coast of West Africa.

The 28-year-old Briton, who is sailing from Torbay to Cape Town on the second leg of the single-handed, round-the-world race was first "spooked" at around 1am yesterday when she heard a man's voice on her VHF radio, which picks up signals from nearby boats.

"I was just about to get some sleep when the VHF burst into life," Richards said. "It wasn't the usual crackle of something far off that you can't make out but a crystal clear whistle, like someone saying 'Hello, I'm over here.' "

Checks from the deck of her yacht, Pindar, revealed only one other discernible boat, a ship, on the distant horizon, but Pindar's radar was also picking up another vessel less than a mile away. No lights were visible, leading Richards to assume that whoever was on board was deliberately sailing without illumination.

Richards was particularly concerned because of information in recent "NavArea" reports, which keep sailors updated on hazards, including actual and attempted piracy attacks. "This part of the African coast is near the top of that [piracy] list," Richards said.

After further lewd communications from the mystery boat via the VHF – including whistles, expletives and singing – Richards, whose position was around 100 miles west of Senegal, identified herself to the other boat to try to establish who was on board.

She suspected they may be pirate fishermen, who work unlicensed – and illegally – in the waters but usually pose no threat, unlike pirates who loot cargo vessels and yachts. There was no response, however. "I was feeling uncomfortable with their silence and was desperately trying to put it out of my head that I was alone," she said.

Anxious to divert attention from the fact that she was sailing solo, Richards then played a talking book – Lord of The Rings – over her stereo system. "I decided to sail in the opposite direction from the radar blip with my navigation lights off," Richards said. Low winds meant she could only manage between one and two knots but there was no further contact from the mystery vessel.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the Around Alone organiser, yesterday played down the incident. His close friend, the renowned yachtsman Sir Peter Blake, was shot dead by pirates on the Amazon last December, and Sir Robin is acutely aware that such tragic occurrences are extremely rare.

"Whenever you're at sea and come across a boat behaving in an unfamiliar way, it's only human to feel threatened," he said. "The most likely explanation in this case is errant fisherman."

Richards was continuing to make progress south last night.

Read Emma Richards' exclusive diary in The Independent each Saturday