Is it common for organizers of a regatta or a series to charge a "launch fee" on top of the regatta or series entry fee? I've never heard of such a thing and no one has been able to provide any examples of others.
Our local non-profit sailing center has decided to impose a launch fee on everyone who does not store their boat there on top of the weeknight summer series entry fee. Their justification is that they need to make more money to cover the costs of the series and that they want to give a benefit to the people who store their boat there.
The Laser fleet objected that this was unfair, the entry fee should cover the costs of running the regatta and and adding a surcharge on top that applied only to a select few was unreasonable and smacked of charging twice for the same service. The fleet also pointed out that the guys who store their boats there pay for the privilege and there is little added cost created by a guy showing up for the night to launch to justify an additional fee on top of the entry fee. The response has been that launch fees are common.
So are they? This is not a situation where boaters have to use a municipal launch ramp to get to the water and thus have to pay the launch fee to the City and the entry fee to the sailing center. The sailing center has its own ramp. So do a lot of venues impose a surcharge on top of the regatta or series entry fee for the privilege of being there?
At Cedar Point in CT, they have a storage fee, but no launch fee.
Storage fee makes a little more sense
Do I think it's petty? Yes.
If you asked me "Bullwinkle, should we impose this extra fee to raise a few bucks?" I'd say no, that's not a good idea.
Do I think it's likely to raise much money over the season? Nope. Bet they won't be able to account carefully enough to even tell the difference, and that all told it'll add up to less than a hunert.
All that being said, do I think that anyone should stay away in protest? Nope. Sailing's a fragile and important thing. Nobody should stay away from sailing for petty reasons.