Yachting NZ CEO David Abercrombie speaks at the announcement for the sailing team to Tokyo 2021 Olympics. © image by Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz © image by Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The head of Yachting NZ has stepped down amid a major organisational reset in the wake of a damning review into the sport.
The national body announced on Wednesday its long-time chief executive David Abercrombie is retiring after 14 years at the helm. He will leave the organisation in June this year.
Abercrombie's departure coincides with a formation of a "transformation oversight group", tasked with enacting the findings of the Project Arotake review, which revealed cultural issues, a lack of transparency and "discrepancies between stated values and actual behaviours within Yachting New Zealand".
However, there was no suggestion in Yachting NZ's statement that Abercrombie's departure was linked to the events of a tumultuous past six months.
Paying tribute to the experience administrator, the national body said Abercrombie last year led the creation of the high-performance advisory group to replace the Yachting New Zealand Olympic Committee, and in August was instrumental in initiating the review of the organisation's high-performance programme.
"After much reflection, I have decided the time is right for someone else to lead Yachting New Zealand and take the sport into its next exciting phase," Abercrombie said.
"It has been a privilege to serve the sailing community and I am immensely proud of the Yachting New Zealand team and board and the incredible things we have achieved together."
Before stepping down Abercrombie will assist the transformation oversight group with its work, the statement said.
Yachting NZ is forging ahead with its "transformation plan" whilst it remains under investigation by sport's new watchdog agency.
RNZ has learned the beleaguered national body has called in veteran administrator Kereyn Smith, who is fast becoming New Zealand sport's "Ms Fix-it", to lead a cultural overhaul of the sport.
The review was initiated after the Paris Olympics and also led by Smith. As it was wrapping up late last year, the Sport Integrity Commission launched an independent investigation into the sport following multiple complaints to the commission.
The investigation, instigated under section 32 of the Integrity Sport and Recreation Act, is the first major test of the commission's muscle. The commission was established in July last year as part of a system-wide overhaul in response to a series of athlete welfare scandals in the country's elite sports environments.
Smith's review, released a week before Christmas, hinted at the nature of some of the complaints currently before the commission.
Former NZ Olympic Committee boss Kereyn Smith will head up Yachting NZ's transformation oversight group. Photo: NZOC
The report found there was "a perception that leadership operates within a traditional paradigm which may not embrace modern, inclusive or innovative approaches". It also pointed to the need for Yachting NZ to establish and uphold safety and standards, including "upholding appropriate boundaries and behaviours and ensuring safe sport practices".
The review, dubbed Project Arotake, made a number of recommendations to improve the organisation's culture, accountability, and processes.
Last week, Smith was appointed to chair a "transformation oversight group" to oversee the implementation of the recommendations. The former New Zealand Olympic Committee boss previously served as transformation director at Cycling NZ following an independent inquiry into the sport in the wake of the death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore.
In a statement, Yachting NZ said the oversight group will include "other senior leaders" and seek input from High Performance Sport NZ, the New Zealand Olympic Committee and a newly formed athlete leadership group.
"Yachting NZ is serious about improvement, and establishing the transformation oversight group is the next step in the process that began in June last year with the creation of the high-performance advisory group (HPAG)," Yachting NZ board chair Greg Knowles said.
"We are working at pace to implement the recommendations and insights from the Project Arotake evaluation."
The appointment of Smith comes after Sport NZ agreed to chip in $30,000 to assist the national body.
Sport NZ confirmed it had offered financial support to Yachting New Zealand "to help with this transformational work". It's understood the government agency did not initiate or contribute to the costs of the initial review.
Those tasked with leading Yachting NZ's cultural reset find themselves in the unusual position of implementing a set of recommendations before an external investigation is complete.
That has led to some concern within the sailing community that Yachting NZ was potentially pre-empting or undermining the findings of the Sport Integrity Commission's investigation by moving forward before the full picture is known.
However others point out that the national body cannot sit on its hands while it waits for the investigation to play out.
It is not clear what stage the investigation is at, and a spokesperson for the commission said the agency could not provide a projected timeframe for completion.
"Our investigation is ongoing and we do not have any further comment," the spokesperson said in a statement.
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