Eight Bells: Stephan Irgens

Stephan Irgens passed away on August 2, surrounded by his loved ones.

Stephan, originally from Norway, began to sail on a boat very soon, in the Oslo fjord. Later, in åsgårdstrand, Norway, he discovered the Snipe and, thanks to the Snipe, he met in 1993, in Santiago de la Ribera, his wife and crew Monica.

In 2015, in an interview for SnipeToday, he remembered: “I met Monica in Santiago de la Ribera, Spain at the EU Masters. I tried to find a way to see her again and I looked up this regatta in Mallorca and invited her to sail with me. I drove from Norway to Barcelona and parked at the airport because I had a meeting in Madrid. That meeting caused me to have to fly back to Norway and I called Monica and asked her to pick up the truck and trailer and bring it to Mallorca which is an island in the Mediterranean and I would fly directly to Mallorca. She agreed to pick me up at the airport.

We made it to the event and there were 40 Snipes competing. We did not know anybody but to my surprise my son’s Snipe was there. Without telling me he had sold it to buy a new 470 for their Olympic training.

This was Monica’s first time in a Snipe and I was very proud to show her my sailing skill as we won the first race of the day. We were the only foreign boat and they measured and weighed our Snipe and checked that our life vests were used. I don’t speak Spanish and nobody talked to me, not even at the party until somebody made a comment and Monica replied in Catalan, the local language. Then everything changed and we had an unforgettable and enjoyable regatta.”

Since that time Stephan and Monica were a constant presence in many regattas both in the United States (where they moved their residence in St. Louis, MO), and in Europe.

This sentence by Stephen perfectly summarized his link with our Class: “If you go to a new place and want friends, visit the local Snipe fleet. There are Snipes almost everywhere. It works the same way all over the world and when Monica and I ended up in St. Louis we brought our Green Boat and we traveled around in the midwest and sailed on all the different lakes and we felt welcomed by all the Snipe sailors.”

In September 2023 he was diagnosed with leukemia. Despite severe treatment, he retained his almost daily routine with strength training, making plans for future Snipe regattas. Sadly Stephan passed away on August 2.

Our condolences to his wife Monica and all his family.

Fair winds, Stephan.

14 Questions to … Stephan and Monica Irgens