Octavia Owen is a British sailor and 2019 Women’s Match Racing National Champion. With Owen at the helm, Team Athena – which also consisted of Hebe Hemming, Lucy Terkelsen and Scarlot Anderson – put on an impressive display throughout the National Championships in Weymouth, beating the boat Jemima and her team to take the title. 2019 was an incredibly successful year for the young sailor, also finishing inside the top 10 at the 2019 World Sailing Nations Cup Grand Final in San Francisco, USA and 2020 started just as promisingly as she climbed to number 11 in the women’s match racing world rankings.
Owen caught the sailing bug at an early age after cruising on the river Dee on the Wirral peninsula with her family when she was still a baby. By the time she was seven years old she was sailing at West Kirby Sailing Club and helming her own Cadet alongside her brothers and fellow Team GB teammate Ruby Riggs. At the age of 11 she transitioned to Fireflies and team racing, and four years later won the silver medal at the ISAF Under 19 Team Racing World Championship when she was just 15. After deciding to try match racing along with her teammates, Team Athena Racing was formed and made their debut at Lysekil Women’s Match 2017.
Since then Owen and Team Athena have become a force to be reckoned with on the international sailing scene, and in 2019 Owen and the team were award the inaugural Ian Atkins Keelboat Award.
