THE irony is not lost on all but a few. Once Southampton carried the proud boast it was the Home of Ocean Sailing. Now it makes it plain it can no longer afford to host worldclass racing events.

That situation has now been underscored after the city council confirmed it will not be bidding for the start and finish of the next Clipper Round The World Yacht Race which comes with a half-a-million-pound price tag.

Far too expensive, says the local authority, which is faced with having to trim millions of pounds off its budget and make 200 staff redundant in the coming year.

Those who support the race point to the fact it would bring in millions of pounds worth of trade and signpost the city as a world class sailing destination to a global audience.

Surely, they claim, it is worth the investment to reap the rewards.

To those facing job losses or cuts in services the argument that money spent on a sailing race would pump wealth into the greater economy is a difficult one to make. This paper sympathises. Yet with just one more ocean race on the city’s books – this autumn’s privately funded Global Ocean Race – there is a risk Southampton’s once proud-boast to be the home of ocean sailing could do just that – and sail away permanently.

The answer would appear to be to attract more private funding to the city to entice racing events to start and finish here. Never likely to be plain sailing at the best of times, but essential if the city is to regain its place in sailing’s premier league.