David Abercrombie retiring after more than 14 years at the helm.
Yachting New Zealand chief executive David Abercrombie.
Yachting New Zealand chief executive David Abercrombie will retire from the role at the end of June, after more than 14 years at the helm of the organisation.
"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," he said today.
Abercrombie had overseen significant developments at all levels of the sport, from grassroots to Olympic sailing, and would be dearly missed, the organisation said.
During his tenure, the sport had grown through innovation, although retention remained a challenge due to the tough economy, it said.
The NZL Sailing Team had produced several sailing world champions and nine Olympic medals in Abercrombie's time, including the joint-record haul of four sailing medals at the 2016 Rio Games.
In June last year, he led the creation of the high-performance advisory group to replace the Yachting New Zealand Olympic Committee, and in August he was instrumental in initiating an independent evaluation of the organisation’s high-performance programme.
The evaluation's findings, dubbed Project Arotake, were published in December. In the coming months, a transformation oversight group, chaired by former New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) chair Kereyn Smith, would implement them, the organisation said.
Yachting New Zealand board chair Greg Knowles praised Abercrombie’s dedication and ability to form lasting relationships.
"As we look to the future, David has worked closely with the board to appoint Kereyn to lead the evaluation of our Paris Olympic campaign and review our wider high-performance programme. This is the ideal time for David to pass the baton to the next generation of leadership as we build towards the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics."
Sport New Zealand group chief executive Raelene Castle also paid tribute to Abercrombie.
"Dave has overseen success at Olympic level, while also increasing opportunities for rangatahi to experience yachting at a community level. He has been a consistent driver of connection opportunities for his CEO colleagues and has always been open to sharing his knowledge and experience."
Before stepping down, Abercrombie will oversee the Yachting New Zealand club conference in May, assist the transformation oversight group with its work, and continue working closely with sponsors and funders on several ongoing projects and partnerships.
The organisation said it planned to begin the process of recruiting a new chief executive soon.
This is supplied content and not commissioned or paid for by NBR.
