Did they deliberately snub the Round the World Clipper race, or did Southampton City Council simply forget to put in an application?

Either way, the event which brought in £5m to the city when last staged, has now sailed off to a yacht mariner in London.

The point is, at time of writing, no one at the city council appears certain what did happen. Lost somewhere in the change of administration from Tory to Labour after last year’s local elections and more recent changes in council leadership are the facts. No one, it seems, can quiet explain what went on, but the Clipper organisation itself, which staged a tremendous show in 2011 when it used Southampton as a starting point for the race, says it asked the council to apply for this year’s event but no one came back to them.

Whether we should be more concerned at losing the event – and its world-wide audience – or the fact the city council doesn’t know how it happened is an interesting debate. I would plumb for the latter. Loss of the race is a huge blow, but the fear that the council doesn’t know one end of the tiller from its yard arm is far more worrying overall.

Recently this paper was instrumental in revealing how one part of the council – the unelected part – had given the green light to a huge new sulphur processing plant in the docks near Freemantle without bothering, it seemed, to inform councillors.

Both the existing administration and the Tories, who were in power when the green light was shown, said they were surprised by the news.

Oh dear. To paraphrase Lady Bracknell in the Importance of Being Earnest – to misplace one major planning application is unfortunate; to misplace a second is downright careless.

What we are left with is an image of an authority that appears to have lost the plot and we, and no doubt anyone considering investing in the city, are left wondering who is in control and whether in fact anyone is at home at all.

All this would be unfair. There are many dedicated people, both elected and officers, who are fighting hard to push the city to the fore. And where Southampton goes, i would venture, other parts of Hampshire will follow.

It’s just that there seems to be a definite lack of joined-up communication in the Civic Centre at present. Put in nautical terms, time to instil a bit of discipline in the ranks, Mr Christian, as Captain Blyth would no doubt have said.