My brother, Matthew Law, who has died aged 63, was for more than 20 years a beloved tutor at the Boat Building Academy, the “wooden boat school”, in Lyme Regis, Dorset. The academy’s motto, “Launching People (and Boats)”, perfectly encapsulated Matthew’s own motivation. Thirty years sober at the time of his death, he tirelessly supported others struggling with addiction. He was an exceptional mentor: funny, original, gentle and passionate.
Born in Dorking, Surrey, Matt was the second son of Tim, a headteacher who loved sailing, and Anne, who had worked as part of the Student Movement House organisation in Kenya, Tanzania and Burma. Growing up in Bude, Cornwall, meant playing in the sea and on the downs.
