Does anyone know anything about the fleet sailing from Hyeres? At least 4 of them I'm told, all nice wooden ones as you would expect at a venue like that, lots of Frenchmen asking "qui est that?"

Due to visit Hyeres in August in the Melges, so will check out and report back.

I could do with some vocabulary help, though..  What is the french for:
Carbon spinnaker pole
correctors
snodger
puller
one string rig
rise of floor

Any help, please??

GGGGGGG

poteau de spinnaker de carbone 
Correcteurs
snodger -:)
extracteur
une installation de corde
�l�vation de plancher

Hmmmmmmmmmm. Did someone use an online translation program? A spinnaker pole is "un tangon (de spi)"; an uphaul is "un hale-haut" (but "une balancine" is sometimes used); a downhaul (so snodger) is "un hale-bas". "Un extracteur" would be better at pulling bearings out!

Latest translations correct. Many of the French Merlins were imported by an engaging rogue called Yves Jambon of Dériveur Services, St Malo, who some of you may remember from the Easter trip to the Rance. Some of them had been fitted with trapezes, and unclear how many are still sailing. I know at least two were destroyed. Certainly we never see any other Merlins on our travels over here, though a former crew of mine photographed one sailing off Salalah in Oman.

Merlins with a trapeeze? might have saved a mast or two on Friday!

How would trapeze mean less mast breakages? More righting moment equals more strain not less surely?

Trapeze does half the work of the windward shroud directly to the crew's harness

Yes but how would that break more masts surely it would also lessen the compression by widening the shroud  base?