Can World Sailing learn from dear old Oz?

by John Curnow on 11 Apr 2016 Some time ago now, Sail-World proposed that the World sailing peak body, ISAF had a really good opportunity at hand when it morphed into World Sailing (WS). Why just lay the drop sheets out and tape up the edges of the windows for a splash of paint, when you could bring out the jackhammers and do a proper reno???

A call was issued for 200,000 sets of goggles and earmuffs to be supplied and for the real work to be commenced.

A new CEO, Andy Hunt and a bunch of other things have occurred, along with promises to get busy with the big tools, before the painters, tilers and so on arrive for the final glitz.

In the meantime, Yachting Australia has begun its own odyssey, and the resultant butterfly is to be known as One Sailing (OS). It all started with consultation with not only the member States’ own boards, but also the clubs around the country to see what the rank and file really thought about it all.

It was ambitious, and there were no super-huge benefits to be gained in terms of cost savings. Rather, it was to be about more uniform direction, streamlining of process, superior use of the Australian Sports Commission’s money and better service delivery. Things that would take time, certainly sounded good, and if you did not get onto it now and become more dynamic, then in the future, you would be even further off the curve and parked squarely in the origin of the x and y axes.

Yachting New South Wales was the first to be absorbed into the new framework. There will always be challenges when change is around, and OS (sounds very Apple, doesn’t it, and does that make Matt Allen Steve Jobs?) is not immune to this at all. Indeed, we understand the current work environment has multiple hurdles and that the builders report that some of the detail is missing from the architects’ drawings.

Sounds like any building site really, but as they continue to work on with getting the devil out of the minutiae, it seemed prudent to see what the next cab off the rank, Yachting Victoria (YV), had as their take on it all. They appear to be on track for the merge by July 1, 2016, with other States to follow thenceforth.

YV’s President, Ian Cunningham, said of it all, “We’re up to the Schedule now. We have an agreement on the content of the main game and the schedule will be finalised next week, at which time we’ll sign and then David Edwards, Matt Carroll and Steve Walker can get it moving on from there.”

“On the ground, things will not change too much, with the physical assets to remain exactly where they are. They can only be used in the State of origin, unless the MYA (member organisation) and YA agree. The MYA can change ownership or retain assets, so on the ground there will be very little change. The benefit comes from cutting away all the separate administration efforts, which will all become centralised.”

“The requirement to develop implementation strategies and national programs will go direct to OS executives. There will be Regional Managers and then customer services officers assisting them in each locale and middle level management will also be decentralised. So delivery of services on the ground will be the same, but with national benchmarking that may not have existed previously.”

“This will allow for some benefits there and then with administration and marketing services centralised there will be some cost savings as a result, and then also some cost savings as result of being a national buyer. It is about the streamlining of service delivery and the achievement of common goals”, added Cunningham.

That’s all terrific, but a quick review of services offered, shows that VY provide powerboat courses as part of Boating Victoria. “Yes, as OS is the umbrella for service delivery, then perhaps there does need to be ‘One Boating’, and it is all part of the broader discussions going on. Our registered Trade Marks and names are all being signed over, with the stipulation that they must be used on programmes that already exist within the State. Ultimately though, a national brand will do much better in the sponsorship market, and this is a key element of the whole move.”

“Victoria does do things a bit differently to the other States, so this is why we made all of the draft schedule ones available for review by everyone. It was the same with the implementation documents. We are not trying to keep it quiet, at all, but rather get the best and most suitable outcomes.”

“To that end, we beefed up the termination agreements for the whole of OS, so that we have the ability to go back to square one should it become necessary, but the whole thing is linked to performance criteria so that we can be fully across the way it is all going. We have added transparency and grandfathering back into previous documents to ensure that no one feels like what we have to date has been lost.”

“There was concern at how the MYA boards were going to interact with OS going forward. They will not be redundant, even though they are not directly in charge of strategy or implementation. We are going to some lengths to ensure that MYAs are involved in strategy development, so this is written the implementation agreement, as it were. There is an annual review of the implementation as an AGM agenda item”, said Cunningham.

So what then of the jewel in the crown, the Sailing World Cup, Melbourne? For the last couple of years it has well and truly had a healthy coat of dust over said tiara, as fewer and fewer crews showed up and even the Aussies did not come in 2015. Both YA and YV even had to top up the pool to keep it afloat when it moved from Sandringham to St Kilda.

“Well the agreements have been signed to hold it for two more years and the Victorian Major Events Corporation (VMEC) is still on board, and with more funding for this period. We may get the to be the Grand Final for the SWC, as they are re-jigging the format. This will ensure the top boats will get there. There will be a qualifying event for others to get a wild card entry to the big leagues.

“In the contracts and running in parallel, we will still have the invited classes. We have budgeted to break even this year, without needing to draw on OS funds at this time. The World Cup Executive Committee will be the same people. A presence from OS, who has not yet been nominated, Mark Turnbull, Steve Walker, Cherry Birch and then two representatives from the VMEC”, said Cunningham in closing.

Now whether there is a place for the SWC at all remains to be seen. WS has sent it in for panel beating for the last three years and their own faith in it is hardly staunch. This year the calendar has at least been cleared to give it its best chance, but you do feel the doctor is still hanging over the patient with the defibrillator paddles!!!

Others have done better, simply by not being part of it anymore – take Palma (Trofeo Princesa Sofia) for instance. Still, as long as there is a SWC, then the Antipodeans should, nee demand, to be part of the roster. So to the East Islands I merely say, ‘Get behind it’. Now the same seems to be apt for us Ozzies and OS, as well. Indeed, WS might take a leaf here too, and so on that note of wonderful global domination, I will finish this particular part of the spiel…