They were talking about an NOR requirement that required participants to be US Sailing members to partake in the event.
Got that... I guess i did not make that clear.. Still It was a
club choice!
You can make the argument that if they are running a USSA/PHRF portsmouth race.... then the competitors should be paid in full members of USSA.. This is equivalent to being a paid in full member of your PHRF Class for entry into any of your regions local regattas. US Sailing championships require membership and no one has a problem with that one.
Once upon a time... I floated this idea with CRAC.... boy was that an ear opener... lets just say there was not a lot of support for mandating USSA membership back in the day.... (Well before the Olympic FUBAR)
It is a different practice then most areas where you just pay a few more bucks to race if you are not USSA members and you assume that using the PN tables is FREE!. I would have thought they might have explained their reasoning....(no free lunch and all that)