B D Finch (asker) Jun 4, 2018:

@Nikki Thanks Nikki. In fact it's the anchor cable, so Florence's answer is what I needed.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jun 3, 2018:

Context When you see "étai" in sailing contexts, it is generally "stay", essentially part of the rigging. This is one of my fields, but it would be helpful to have more context. Boats have "violon", "piano" and so on, but it doesn't mean they play music. We really do need to knwo what part of the boat this is about. The type of boat would help too. ;-)
"Etais" are part of a boat's "gréement dormant" (standing rigging) as opposed to "gréement courant" (running rigging). The former help keep the mast up; the latter are all about the lines, halyards, sheets, etc.

philgoddard May 29, 2018:

Etai is the bar dividing each link into two, as in this picture:
http://www.anciens-ets-kraif.com/chaines-a-etais/
I haven't worked out what it's called yet. Bar? Stay?
"Maille courte" appears to be "short mesh". You haven't given the full context, so I'm not sure why a mesh is involved.