It is with great sadness that I belatedly share the sad news of the departure of such an outstanding YCC member.
Please take - as a small tribute - the time to read Marco's words below.
I have never met Paul personally, but I was moved by the thoughtful words Marco has for him. I really feel I missed the opportunity of meeting someone larger than life.
There is not much I can add except the wish for all of us to be inspired by Paul's stature.
Fair winds, dear Paul.
Sadly, our friend Paul Rabar has rounded the last mark. For more than twenty years, he was at the heart of the YCC lives, contributing to shape the Club to what all of us enjoy at present. Hungarian national, he was a humble man, with understated elegance and sharp irony, inspiring respect and admiration; definitely one of the best sailors YCC has had. He won countless regattas, participated in world championships and was well known in Switzerland, notably in the Yngling class association. Oddly, his favourite sport was not sailing but fencing. Paul won several European and Hungarian fencing championships. In his house, he had literally kilos of medals piled in a glass jar and incidentally it was during one European championship that Paul met Marianne, his wife.
Paul was my sailing father. I first met him in 1992 when I took the Soling test (that was the YCC's big boat before the Surprise era), during which we argued on practically everything. I just did not grasp his ironic lines, which were more than my ego could bear. Sometime later, by fluke, we found ourselves together on a Yngling during a YCC regatta, that we won hands down thanks to his knowledge of the boat. I couldn't help but admiring the man: he must have said seven words in total, but those were the things to say. We continued racing together and became the Yngling team of YCC.
In 1995, at the Buvette he got me stumped by asking, with his distinctive accent, if I wanted to helm Vas-Y (sic) in no less than the Yngling World Championship, which that year would take place on Lake Geneva. Despite being aware that with Vas-y we would not stand a chance, we took part. It was a memorable moment, and for the record we did not get last. Amazingly, Paul was known by at least half of the international teams, something that he found natural, like being known by one's neighbors.
It is difficult to list all he did for YCC. But if you sail Vas-Y, you should notice the two bilge pumps placed on the deck close to each shroud. He mounted them alone, in 95, before the championship. You should look at them with a bit of respect.
I will miss him a lot and I am sure that those of you who knew him will find it difficult to believe he's gone.
