Jon Deutsch

Front Runner Midwinters Trip Day 2

The plan for today had been to get the boat ready, do a practice sail and then a Portsmouth handicap race in the evening, but rain, a tornado warning, flash flood warning and lake wind advisory foiled those plans. Instead I got the tires fixed and joined the group for lunch at Ybor Brewing Company. In the afternoon we relaxed around the house and then Rick and Jen cooked up a great steak, chicken and sausage dinner with salad and baked potatoes. The rest of the evening was spent playing cards and recounting old times sailing at FBYC.

We’ll have to get an early start to the day tomorrow to get the boat setup and ready to sail. We’ve seen a variety of forecasts, but presently we’re expecting lighter winds with a possibility of some rain.

Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:32 PM

Front Runner Midwinters Trip Day 1

We started out bright and early this morning on our trip to Tampa for the Fireball and Friends midwinter’s. I am sailing a Front Runner along with 7 other boats based in Richmond from Fishing Bay Yacht Club. 5 of us left Richmond at 5:30am in a caravan heading south.

The trip started out fine, but about 150 miles into the trip the tire went on the trailer I was driving. Unfortunately the spare was a dud too, but thankfully Mark came to the rescue and loaned me his spare. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful and we pulled into Davis Island Yacht Club around 7pm.

Most of the other boats in our group arrived around the same time and after unloading the boats we stopped for some pizza before heading out to find our house for the weekend.

Tomorrow, after getting some new tires we’ll set up the boats and get ready to race in the afternoon. The weather is calling for scattered storms and 12-15+.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:49 PM

Ski Trip

All this snow we've gotten this winter made for some great skiing conditions on the last weekend in February.

Monday, March 8, 2010 9:13 PM

Dodgeball Season

The 2010 Dodgeball season came to an end. Our team might have lost more games than we won, but we had a good time. Here are photos from our last game and below is a video.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 7:48 PM

2010 Dodgeball Video

Friday, February 19, 2010 12:00 AM

33rd America's Cup

I've mentioned the America's Cup and in case you haven't heard this is the Superbowl of sailboat racing and it's happening this week. Larry Ellison (owner of Oracle) and Ernesto Bertarelli a European pharmaceutical billionaire have built a 90' x 90' trimaran and a 90'x90' catamaran. They are absolutely incredible and they sail 2-3 times the speed of the wind.

They are racing a best of 3 series to determine the winner of the America's Cup - the oldest trophy in sports.

The first race was supposed to take place Monday morning around 4am our time, but was abandoned due to lack of wind. The second race was supposed to take place on Wednesday but was abandoned due to rough condition and high waves at the race site. So by the time you read this Friday morning either the first race will be underway, or it also will be abandoned pushing the regatta further into next week.

The races are being broadcast on ESPN360.com starting around 3AM each morning. If you have a chance and want to see these amazing boats, check out some short 2-3 minute clips on each teams' YouTube channel

Challenger from USA
BMW/Oracle
http://bmworacleracing.com/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/BMWORACLERacingTeam

Favorite Videos:
Win this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNuAWk89Aew < this is the embeded video above.
Astronauts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afw_Wz-Ohm8
Symphony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rHNigG60WU

Defender from Switzerland
Alinghi
http://www.alinghi.com

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/alinghitv

Favorite Videos:
From the SKy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNtqb636_xw
Through the Clouds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhpTlbQVyhU < They lifted the boat with a helicopter
Sail in Valencia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_etvePIM-E

America's Cup Website: http://www.americascup.com/en/index.html

Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:53 PM

James River Flooding

This morning I got up early and went down to Pony Pasture to check out the flooding. The river crested at almost 18 feet this morning and Pony Pasture was completely flooded. Riverside Drive was also flooded and closed.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 9:08 PM

Christmas Vacation

My family traveled to San Diego for Christmas this year to visit my sister and her husband at their apartment on the UC-Irvine campus. Cheryl just finished her first semester in the graduate program there.

After spending Christmas Day evening having our traditional Christmas get together we spent the next day visiting the state park where Dilip works and walking around the beaches of Laguna Beach.

On the 3rd day we went in to Los Angeles and visited the La Brea Tar Pits and walked around Hollywood Boulevard. In the evening we went to the Magic Castle. Our final day in southern California was spent in San Diego at the San Diego Zoo.

Here are the Pictures

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 8:29 PM

Winter Snowfall

Richmond got quite a bit of snow fall this weekend. I spent some time Saturday outside hiking down to the river and shoveling the snow while taking pictures and video along the way. Check them out.

Shoveling the driveway: