James Raby
Dear Members,
It is with great sadness that I have to inform you of the sudden passing of our Vice-Commodore, James Raby. He died of natural causes at the early age of 54 whilst overseas on a short break. This tragedy has been compounded by the death of his elderly Mother shortly afterwards. Both James and his Mother are lying side-by-side in the chapel of rest in Stafford, their home town.
Our thoughts are very much with his older brothers, Andrew and Charles and families as they come to terms with their tragic losses. Andrew is of course a Penguin Club Member and former Commodore.
James was a central figure in the running of the Club having started to sail with Penguin when he was at Malvern School. His passion was always for sailing in his favourite cruising ground in the West Coast of Scotland.
He served as Club Commodore on two occasions, the first one being cut short when he had to work in California and I am indebted to him for leaving the club in a very healthy position when he handed over to me last January. In particular, his contribution in setting up and managing the I.T. support systems and the complex insurance and legal aspects of the club, was invaluable. These aspects will be sorely missed, but more than this he was an accomplished sailor, Skipper and Commodore, having passed his “Yachtmaster Offshore” in his early twenties. His relaxed style and encouragement helped many members to take on bigger roles.
Many members will also remember his special culinary skills!
Since his death it has become clear he was a man of great intellect and many talents. Apart from full time work, he was becoming an expert dance photographer, had commissioned a new musical in USA as Executive producer and for many years was on the Board of Trustees for Sainsbury Management Fellows which was set up by Lord Sainsbury to demonstrate the value of a combined business and engineering education in improving the performance of the U.K. economy. James had studied Engineering at Imperial College and then moved into business, largely brokering finance.
James, thanks for all you have done for the Club, it’s going to be tough without you.
John Marriott
Club Commodore
15/10/2018
The funeral will be initially a small, private service for James and his Mother in Stafford. There will be a Memorial Service later, possibly in London, for James’s wider friends and colleagues (details to be confirmed). We will of course pay our Club tribute, as a notice on the web site and at our next AGM on 19th January 2019. Meanwhile, if anyone would like to send their own Tribute and any photographs, please feel welcome to email (or post) c/o any one of following committee members. They will then collect them and pass them on to James's family:
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