Andrew Collins

Thank you all for joining us this evening to celebrate the life of Keith “Harry” Mattison.

I would like to welcome Keith’s family. His wife Ruth and his children Kevin, Sam and Niki and their spouses Sandy, Mike and Rob. Thank you for being with us.

Harry was a man loved by many. And there was a lot to love and admire about him.

He had a passion for life that was infectious and inspirational. This passion and his thirst for knowledge drove him to have many varied interests. And he was always determined to be as successful as possible at whatever interested him.

Speaking to his family and friends over the last week there was a constant theme of just how much Harry packed into his life. More than one person commented on how it made one reconsider your own life and how much more you could be doing.

On Monday Kevin spoke about how Harry managed to squeeze two lifetimes into one. Even over the last year Harry was taking on online astronomy course through an American University.

Here at Royal Cape we know about his love of sailing, pretty girls and Castle beer. He was also a very talented musician, computer programmer and teacher.

But I think his family was his greatest joy. Harry was enormously proud of all of them and especially loved spending time with his 7 grandchildren. In fact Harry loved all children and was extremely good with them.

A special memory of mine is of an afternoon when just Harry and I took my two young sons out on FTI. It was one of those perfect winter days. We flew the spinnaker and my boys and I stood on the foredeck watching a pod of dolphins playing around the bow, while Harry was at the helm with a huge smile on his face. He loved introducing kids to sailing and has made sure that FTI will continue to sail and be available for his grandchildren.

But it was not only children that Harry introduced to sailing. He was always willing to take people out who had never sailed before (particularly if they were female) and encouraged them to take an active part. Barnaby related on Monday how this normally involved assigning the completely green (sometimes in more ways than one) crew to the runners and telling them that if they got it wrong the mast would fall down.

Harry had a very diverse crew list from which he selected for races. Obviously there were almost always women on board and the crew’s ages range across quite a few decades. Although most of us are Cape Townian, and quite a few of us were at school together, FTI has always had a strong German contingent on board.

Speaking of German crew I would like to read out a message from Dietmar who is in Germany at the moment.

“Dear Keith,

you left us too early, but with lots of lovely memories.

We were blessed to share wonderful times with you on and around the boat.

We and especially I as second or sometimes 3rd senior enjoyed the young creative spirit on board of FTI and I am grateful that you accepted or even liked to have some Germans on the boat as long as they were not singing or talking about "thinking".

Even when your boat was close to being "over-krauted" you  enjoyed it and offered rather sooner than later a Castle to drink to our health and friendship.

Dear Keith, thank you for your friendship which will be in our memory for ever!

So lets not say "good bye", lets grab a Castle and say Cheers!

Isabell, Ursel und Dietmar”

Whoever was on board, we always had fun. As we all know, a sailing race can become a little heated at times, but if Keith ever raised his voice or got upset with us, he was always quick to apologise.

Harry was one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever known. I am sure that many of you experienced how difficult it was to buy him a beer. He would always have his wallet out first and insist on paying. The crew would have to race him to the bar to buy the first round.

He was always the first to help anyone in need. If ever another boat was in trouble, Harry was straight on the radio telling them we were standing by and offering assistance. Of course, he was also straight on the radio if he felt the bridge were slipping up and needed some advice, or Luke needed some input on the choice of course!

Harry was also very adventurous. Sometimes to the horror of us crew. More than once as we rounded a mark and bore off on to a tight beam reach in a stonking south-easter, he would call for the spinnaker, while the crew protested that we would never hold it. “Nonsense!” he would say as we promptly got knocked flat. As Kevin would say – what could possibly go wrong?!

His adventurous spirit meant that sailing around the cans in Table Bay was not enough for Harry. He sailed two Cape to Rio races and was ready to do his third in January. He sailed in the Med with Ruth and friends on a few occasions and delivered a yacht from the Med to Cape Town not so long ago.

Although Harry was adventurous, he was always very safety conscious and enjoyed the discipline of yachting. His navigation skills are going to be missed on FTI.

During the last Mykonos Race in February, most of you will remember that the Dassen Island mark was shrouded in fog and very close to shore.  As we approached the mark I was on the helm peering into the gloom, slightly nervous as I knew the shoreline was less than a mile away. Harry’s regular and confident directions from below brought us to within a few hundred metres of the line and we only needed the slightest course correction when we at last saw the mark and boat.

Over the last few months, as Harry became more frail and was not able to helm anymore, he nevertheless joined us on the boat as often as he could and did all the navigation from the chart table.

Petri and I were very privileged to be with Harry on his last sail ten days ago during the double-handed race.

Ruth had assured me that although he was frail, the sail would be good for him. Although it clearly took a huge effort on his part, he never once complained and the only comment he made about his health was that he was “getting old” or that he was “moderate”.

Once we had him settled in at the chart table with his oxygen plugged in, Petri and I got on with the race. It must have been tough for Harry not to offer assistance, but he could not resist a few wry comments. Harry was far too kind to ever be nasty to anyone, but he did gently enquire if we did not think that perhaps the spinnaker could have gone up a bit faster. He also advised me that getting caught between two boats on the start line with no escape route and getting pushed over early (thanks Luke) was ill-advised. “Perhaps I should helm the starts in future,” he said before putting on some classical music.

All of us on FTI are going to miss him. However, Harry made plans for Barnaby and I to continue running the boat and FTI have promised to continue sponsoring us. So beware. FTI Flyer will continue to sail and we will do so in the spirit of Harry. Expect port tack starts and lots of laughter.

One final anecdote. Just before the last double-handed race Petri and Harry were discussing what music Petri should play at his funeral. In true Harry style he said that the funeral should actually be held before he goes so that he can play with Petri and join in the party afterwards.

Ruth, thank you for sharing Harry with us.