And then lied about it. That's the kicker. Of the five that were caught.one was given a warning, one was banned for the first four AC races, and three were banned from this AC.
Further, three of the offenders are being sent to their national sailing organization with a recommendation of no further action, but two of them are being sent back for further punishment with the declaration of lying and knowingly modifying the boats. Because each of these sailors sails under the international racing rules, and are being charged with "[a] gross breach of a rule and good sportsmanship" they are going to get the hammer. There is precedence in sailing (sorry, no linkage) that these two guys could be banned from competing for years. And this is *all* racing, from the AC and Olympics and club beer can racing. This is the equivalent of A-Rod being told he can't play ball anywhere in the world, including his church softball league. The closest analogy is the banning for life of the Chicago Black Sox.
So don't think this is a trivial situation, these guys will probably never race professionally ever again in their lives.