When the text message told her not to be late home, Daniella Bonati knew her boyfriend had a special evening planned.

Ian Langan was planning to ask her to marry him. He never got the chance.

Minutes after sending the message on his mobile phone he was dead.

He had broken up with Daniella but told his brother Martin: "I've made a terrible mistake."

Waitress Daniella, 35, and Ian got back together that weekend and Ian had made his mind up to marry her.

But instead of celebrating an engagement, the family are in mourning.

Mother Doreen Langan, who lives at Brighton Marina, said Ian was a fun-loving, happy and generous man with a wide circle of friends.

He was one of eight children who moved with their parents from London to Brighton 12 years ago.

Chef Ian, of Springfield Road, Brighton, loved the sea and was a regular crew member aboard the 33ft yacht Freebird at the marina. He would be out on the sea twice a week sometimes.

Always adventurous, Ian bungee jumped in Australia and took part in the Royal Escape race across the English Channel.

A good singer, he gave a rendition of his favourite song, Frank Sinatra's My Way, in a pub last Friday, three days before the fatal crash.

Ian, 45, was aboard the speedboat Jade Princess, near the Palace Pier, when it collided with a second speedboat, skippered by his brother Cliff. Ian was hit by the propeller and died from multiple injuries.

His family took some comfort from how he died, that he was on the sea that he loved, enjoying himself and had not faded away in bed from a disease or illness.

Ian was especially close to his brother Cliff, a former lifeguard, who said: "When we were young boys we'd sleep together in the same bed.

"We had the same fears, of being cold, in the dark and alone.

"Those fears were in my mind as we searched for Ian in the sea on Sunday."

Last year Cliff saved a man who had suffered a stroke and had been helpless for three days in his boat in the marina until Cliff found him.

He hoped he could have done the same for Ian.

Cliff said there was some consolation in the fact Ian had died instantly, that he was not alone and in the cold, dark sea.

Mrs Langan at first thought she had lost two sons.

She had no idea Cliff had been taken to Brighton police station for questioning until late Sunday night.

She has not slept for more than a few hours since. She said: "I just feel numb.

"Daniella adored Ian and has been in floods of tears ever since, as all of us have. We have all been traumatised."

Her other son Martin, who lives with his mother, had the unenviable task of identifying Ian's body.

Martin, a 47-year-old personal trainer, said: "Ian always had a great sense of humour and when I saw him lying there he had a faint smile on his face, like he always had.

"It was like he was saying: 'I know I owe you a fiver but I can't pay you. I've done you, bruv'.''

Mrs Langan said Ian was always generous with money. She said: "He'd borrow £10 from me and give it to one of his mates."

Hundreds of friends and relatives are expected at his funeral, including another brother who flew in yesterday from his home in Australia. The family are insisting the service will be a celebration of Ian's life.

Mrs Langan, a candle burning for Ian on a shelf near where she sat, said: "He will be remembered as a gung-ho person."

Asked to assist with the funeral service is Duncan Money, Commodore of Brighton Marina Yacht Club, and Jack Voss, Admiral of the club.

Ian's ashes will be scattered later at sea and a flotilla of vessels carrying friends and relatives will be present.

A song, another of Ian's favourites, will be played at his funeral: R Kelly's If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time.

The title has more meaning now for the grieving Langan family than it ever did.