Yachting NSW restructures towards new national model

by Jeni Bone on 13 Jul 2010 Yachting NSW has issued a statement to the state’s affiliated member clubs with a message from the president, Geoff Davidson, that signals a total restructuring of the organisation – to be amalgamated into Yachting Australia offices – but also heralds a new national system to be revealed in the next 12 months.

In his letter, Davidson says YNSW has become 'less financially viable' and so will close its state-based operations, headquartered at Homebush, moving to the premise of the national body, with offices at St Leonards.

According to Davidson, one of the problems has been that the major clubs in NSW have not wished to take on 'banding' as a method of collecting membership fees. 'Some of the bigger clubs were reluctant to be ‘membership collectors’, and that left Yachting NSW with a substantial shortfall of the amount of money we need to run the programs we thought we needed to run – our youth program, coaching program, development program, participation committee which encourages people to get in to the sport and join clubs.

'All those types of programs were cut fairly finely. We had to eat in to our reserves to make sure we could deliver those programs. But that’s not something you can continue forever.'

Plans are in motion for Yachting Australia to provide all services and requirements set by the YNSW Board to the member clubs in NSW on a sub-contract basis, with performance monitored and measured by the YNSW Board.

The changes aim to provide 'efficiencies in accounting, legal, administration, IT and fee processing, tasks which are currently duplicated'.

It is hoped there will be 'a more unified approach to the sport by removing the ‘us and them’ approach'. Other objectives include: providing a pilot study of a more national structure; giving Yachting Australia a more ‘hands on’ view of sailing issues at sea level as opposed to the view from the mountain top; reducing the need for a CEO at State level; providing better career opportunities for staff members; reducing the confusion over membership about the roles of two associations and improve communications between these associations.

These changes will be in place for a minimum of 12 months. Within that 12 month period, the new structure for the whole of yachting in Australia will have been formulated by the National Structure Committee, of which Davidson is a part. He says the preliminary report has been received by the Board, who have made some comments, and it will go back to the working party for discussion among the state associations and clubs. 'Then the rolling out of that, if it’s accepted, will take a few years,' Davidson acknowledges, adding that his main focus at this stage is YNSW.

'Many of our member clubs say they see the need for only one association and not a separate National and State body. This desire for one National Organization is now gaining momentum in other states and the YA have formed a sub-committee to review the structure of Yachting in Australia and to make recommendations to the YA Board and the Federal Assembly by July this year. It is fair to say that no-one expects this committee to recommend the Federated model we have now.'

It makes sense, says Davidson, for YNSW to move in to the YA offices. 'In NSW, we’re uniquely fortunate because we’re domiciled in the same state'.

Within the next few weeks, Davidson reveals, there will be an announcement about the membership fee stream, with a plan for a 'flat fee' for clubs. 'For example, if a Club has 3000 members in your yacht club, there will be 3000 fees paid, but at a much lesser rate than it is currently. It will be streamline the collection of fees for all concerned. We’re looking at fine tuning that in the framework of our constitution and that’s what we’re looking to put forward.'

The issue facing YNSW and the sport in general, says Davidson, is that 'there are a lot of people who aren’t paying their way'.

'If everybody paid their way it would be quite cheap for everybody. It can be simple. The small sailing clubs who have most of their members sailing aren’t a problem – they’re pretty much compliant. It’s some of the bigger clubs where a lot of people come from all over the place and come on to the race track, without going in to the club to race. It’s pretty hard to clip their tickets!'

In order for YNSW to be viable, it has to deliver. 'We have to continue to be seen as an organisation that delivers. We’re doing a lot with junior sailing, coaching, participation, Try Sailing Days and Try Crewing Days, which a lot of people don’t see, but there’s a lot of work being done.'

Moving premises will have no repercussions in terms of lease, as the organisation operates from Sports House at Homebush along with many other state level sports. The four YNSW staff, including one casual, are in negotiations with YA to find roles.

For his part, Davidson – who is a member of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron – will move on from the role of President, retiring from that role, opting to focus on his business. 'Especially with all the changes, in the last couple of months I have had to travel to Melbourne, then there’s all the administration, it takes a lot of work. At the moment, I just need to put more time in to my business.'

A list of candidates is in with the Member Advisory Committee (MAC) from which the Board will be elected.