Skipper Brad Kauffman and the rest of the crew aboard the Farr 30 Mummbles knew exactly what they wanted to do when racing was cancelled on Wednesday due to lack of wind.
The Mummbles team still wanted to get out on the water, but instead of 
chasing podium finishes they were stalking deep sea fish. It’s not easy to arrange an offshore fishing trip on the spur of the moment, but Kauffman and his teammates had a plan and they executed it to perfection.
It helps to be well connected and the Mummbles team got a big assist from trimmer Tom Weaver and tactician Matt Beck when it came to quickly lining up a platform from which to fish and equipment to use.
Weaver is a principal in the company that builds the Eastport 32 sportfishing boat. It just so happens that Dick Neville of the Quantum Key West 2012 race committee has his Eastport 32 here in Key West. Kauffman gave Neville a bottle of rum and the Mummbles crew had use of a powerboat that does 30 knots and could get the team quickly offshore.
Meanwhile, Beck is close friends with a charter boat captain here in Key West. That captain lived at Beck’s house in Annapolis for a time and thus had no problem with lending the Mummbles team four deep sea fishing rods and assorted tackle. They bought some ballyhoo to serve as bait and sped about five miles offshore to a reef located just beyond the Tower Light.
“Everything really came together well. It was pretty amazing to be out fishing about an hour or so after hearing there would be no racing,” Kauffman said.
And the impromptu fishing trip was a big success with all members of the party pulling in some sort of fish. Kauffman got the big prize, hooking and reeling in a beautiful 20-pound Blackfin Tuna. Weaver later cut the tasty tuna up into small pieces and it was served as sushi at a Farr 30 party hosted by class president Deneen Demourkas on Wednesday night.
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