Sorry Macca Patches are Patches. The dacron that is in the very corner of the sail is called blocks or gumbies. Blocks are not reffered to in the rules so you should be able to build them out of whatever you want. You can have all patches you want but without a dacron block you wont be sailing very far.

I totally agree that it has been dealt with shockingly. It should have been caught out sooner in a protest room that wasn't at a world championship. And dealt with properly instead of letting them off with a slap on the wrist. The whole situation is very strange but intriguing.