As some of you may know, there is to be a repeat of the 2014 Carnac event  in 2017. In connection with that, I am trying to put together a list of Merlin owners in ‘continental’ Europe, i.e. outside the UK.

Most of the owners listed below are not MROA members. If anyone knows of other Non-UK Merlin owners not on this list, possibly by a boat sale, or knowing someone who sold a boat abroad, please let me know.

Adrian BOIVIN
Pedro CARVALHO
Derek DAVIES
Loïc EONNET
Arnaud FAGES
Philippe FAGES
Ainslie FRENCH
Kevin GAUTHIER
Alain KINARD
Stéphane LEMOINE
Cédric NICOLAS
François PODEVYN

I am in Toulouse and don't see much in the way of dinghy sailing in France, certainly not in the SW.
What were you thinking about?
My boat, 3577 is for sale in the UK at the moment and has never been to France.
I did bring my N12 here for a while but found the lack of dinghy sailing too frustrating.
My mobile is +33 6 8999 4454, email [email protected].
Good luck
 
Derek 

Andrew - would be interesting to know the sail numbers of the boats that the owners in your list have.

Woops! Brain not in gear - sorry Rod.

Hi Derek, 
 
Yep, I'd got you down as owner of 3577, without realizing that the boat is not in France with you.
 
We sail 2 old Merlins, a N12 & an OK Dinghy apiece, on the Franco-Belgian border, but I agree that serious dinghy sailing in France is a dying pastime, particularly in doubles, though we are at an age when we don't much care & sail just for fun!
 
At the 2014 Carnac event, we were just two old 'local' Merlins, and totally outclassed by the UK contingent. I was contacted again as interpreter for the 2017 repeat, which led to discussions about how we might attract more of the older boats which are already over here,- or at least were over here!; most of the 20 or so brought over & sold in the 90's by Dériveur Services of St. Malo seem to have disappeared.
 
It is early days, the first step was simply to try to locate as many boats as possible, but not looking too promising; two of the others on my list are also up for sale.
 
Cheers, 
 

Hi Mike,
 
Adrian BOIVIN - 3271
Pedro CARVALHO - 2109
Derek DAVIES - 3577
Loïc EONNET - 3228
Arnaud FAGES - 3131
Philippe FAGES - 3298
Ainslie FRENCH - 3188
Kevin GAUTHIER - 3028
Alain KINARD - 3288
Stéphane LEMOINE - 2623
Cédric NICOLAS - 2608
François PODEVYN - 1711 
 
Plus our own 1620 & 2988, but hard to sail both at the same time.
 
Of these, turns out that 3577 is not in France at all, 3271 & 3228 are up for sale & 1711 without TLC is headed for a star role in a Viking funeral.
 
Cheers, 

By the way, you can have a look at what a fabulous restoration job Pedro has done on
 
http://barcosecompanhia.blogspot.pt/p/merlin-rocket-2109-javelin.html 

I sold 3202 to someone in France probably St Malo in about 1999 along with a load of old sails but the boat has never been seen since.

Dériveur services was run by a rather likable rogue Yves Jambon, who spotted old boats going cheap in the UK, snapped them up with a sob story about it being for helping young people, then sold them on, expensively, to an unwitting public. I heard that one was fitted with a trapeze, and even at the time of the Rance raid they seemed not to be much in evidence, despite my efforts at the time.

I am living in France (in Mayenne) and have Merlin Rocket 2685 here and stripped for varnish and paint as the boat has not been used for a number of years. The boat is a September Girl almost a twin to that owned by Cedric Nicolas.

Apart from 1711, which François & I restored, and very occasionally 3288, I have seen nothing of other European Merlins since I started this thread in 2016, and have more or less given up on attempts to get them together, but good luck with your boat restoration; let me know when you hit the water.
 

Thanks will do

I have sold 7 sets of plans for my Hazardous Merlin Rocket designs to people in Italy, Poland, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Don't know how many have actually been built though.