The News

[BrilloHeadBen]

We know you have all been waiting patiently for an update, and we just kept hoping that we would have some good news “any day now”. We’ve been quiet for a bit too long and don’t want to keep anyone in the dark. Due to the combination of our previous event insurer no longer writing policies in Florida and the high cost of our remaining available sites, putting on events at a price people are willing to pay is simply impossible. Even with an unwelcome price hike, a sold-out bare bones event (no refreshments, snacks, etc.) would struggle to break even. Much of the past two months we have spent getting countless quotes, doing math, doing more math, and looking for other options. Unfortunately, it seems that as of now, this is the end of the road.

[AScoda]

<Sad Face>

[Native]

Also <Sad Face>

it seems that as of now, this is the end of the road

...as of now... < Hopeful face>

[Loren]

I'm with Steve. It doesn't have to be the end. Just like Steve and I did earlier this year... Put it out there and see who wants to pick it up.

[mymomswagon]

guys thanks for the effort and sorry for the difficulties.

any way to sublet another club's insurance?

[bluesight]

Drag that making AX work is so challenging...and the effort is truly appreciated!

In WI, there are some club affiliations, with SCCA being the obvious one. But we also have Midwestern Council in our area that the Madison Sports Car Club (and some others) affiliate with and, I assume, get some of their support from (like access to insurance). Not sure if any equivalent is available in the southeast. But maybe affiliation with other clubs in the region might be an option? I've occasionally checked out Equipe Rapide events, though haven't attended...too far. Maybe they'd like a gulf-coast affiliate? Brand clubs might be tough since FAST is agnostic in that respect...Porsche and Corvette seem to also have their ups and downs. But, in our area, there is a Miata club (Windy City Miata) that does pretty well for autocross. And while they are Miata based, the attendance at their AX events end up often being only about 30% Miata. Hitching the FAST AX concept to a Miata base could make sense. There appear to be a few Miata clubs in the FL gulf coast area....Just some thoughts from a snowbird interloper...

[Jamie]

Due to the combination of our previous event insurer no longer writing policies in Florida...

Not sure who the club was using...has K&K abandoned Florida? (Their website doesn't reflect that.)

...and the high cost of our remaining available sites, putting on events at a price people are willing to pay is simply impossible.

That's surprising. How are other clubs -- especially independents like GCAC and Martin -- managing it? What defined the price people are willing to pay? Loren put out a survey earlier in the year (viewtopic.php?f=1&p=68331#p68331) – the results seem to indicate that people were willing both to support a price increase and some changes to event operations.

[Native]

Right - K n K is not writing FL policies any more.
Loren and I likely would've been stuck when our policy ended. And they were not open about it...

[BrilloHeadBen]

Not sure who the club was using...has K&K abandoned Florida? (Their website doesn't reflect that.)

Yes, FAST was using K&K and they are no longer writing event policies in the state of Florida. This isn't per their website, this is from two separate underwriters and communication with K&K.

That's surprising. How are other clubs -- especially independents like GCAC and Martin -- managing it? What defined the price people are willing to pay? Loren put out a survey earlier in the year (viewtopic.php?f=1&p=68331#p68331) – the results seem to indicate that people were willing both to support a price increase and some changes to event operations.

AFIK they aren't terminating any policies, so as of now any of the groups with K&K are still insured though them until the policy is up. How they choose to progress is entirely their business and not for me to speculate or question. As for the survey, that's exactly how we came to the conclusion that the entry fee would be too high. The thread you posted is an abridged version of the results and there is more data that we used from the full results. I'm not going to post an expense breakdown of FAST, but you'll just have to accept that the math simply wasn't there.

[blacksheep-1]

I'm insanely busy right now with all the IMSA races stuffed into a few months, in the past 3 weeks I've spent about 3 days at home and am about to head to Laguna Seca.
I intend to do some research for you guys on this, but I'm getting hammered right now. I really don't want to see FAST go down the tubes, I've been a member of this group since the Miata days and feel that it is the best autocross group in Florida.

[Jamie]

...any of the groups with K&K are still insured though them until the policy is up. How they choose to progress is entirely their business and not for me to speculate or question. As for the survey, that's exactly how we came to the conclusion that the entry fee would be too high. The thread you posted is an abridged version of the results and there is more data that we used from the full results. I'm not going to post an expense breakdown of FAST, but you'll just have to accept that the math simply wasn't there.

I think you guys have done a lot of hard work, but within a bubble. I'm puzzled that you apparently haven't talked to other clubs, to find out if they have ideas or alternative approaches. I'm puzzled that you won't at least lay out a basic model of what an event costs at a particular site, what that translates to for an entry fee, and get more focused feedback from the membership. I'm puzzled that you won't let the rest of the membership know what potential courses of action you've considered to keep the club going, and get feedback as to what people are willing to commit to. So no, without knowing what you have and haven't done, and without seeing the data, I don't accept that possible solutions are exhausted.

I think FAST has had a significant influence on autocrossing in Florida over the last 15 years. There's a reputation for well-organized, well-run events, and other clubs have adopted some of the practices that we started first. It would be unfortunately if that ended. I expect that others will come up with solutions, and I'm certainly not limiting my racing to scrabbling for a spot at quarterly PCA events

[Solar]

I saw this sad news via email, so I decided to check in and see where FAST actually stands, and I guess for now the business is suspended until further notice. I have a friend who is a insurance agent and told her about what FAST is dealing with and she wasn't surprised. From what she said is almost no one is writing any type of new insurance policies for large events until Covid is under control.

Keep the faith, hopefully by next spring this crap is under control and everything starts to open up.

[Van48]

I wonder if it is possible to get insurance excluding any COVID 19 coverage.

[mdw1000]

I saw this sad news via email, so I decided to check in and see where FAST actually stands, and I guess for now the business is suspended until further notice. I have a friend who is a insurance agent and told her about what FAST is dealing with and she wasn't surprised. From what she said is almost no one is writing any type of new insurance policies for large events until Covid is under control.

Keep the faith, hopefully by next spring this crap is under control and everything starts to open up.

I was thinking this but don’t have contacts in insurance. Makes sense from the insurer’s point of view.

Once the risk levels are reduced they are likely to want that revenue again. But I don’t see them doing that until the pandemic is squashed. And none of us really know when that will be. We’ll have to be patient.