Furler on CP-16

[carry-on]

Ordered the RF76 furler and the RF78B swivel from APS. Expect delivery on April 26th.
Can you tell me how much 1/8 inch line to fill the furler spool?
Thanks.
Hope you can launch next weekend.

[Mas]

I cant help with this set up and Mas has hank on headsails. No Mas, our 23 had a CDI FF2 fuller that is designed primarily for the trailer sailer type boat. It worked well. My guess is that the FF1 would be the size for the 16. It has a maximum headstay length of 21 feet i believe. Keep us posted.

[tmw]

Please keep us posted with performance reports...
. Does it make your life easier?
. Do you notice any downsides?
. Does the fuller itself rub at all - looks like a tight fit.

After finally sailing I can give actual performance reports.  Overall, I'm very happy with the setup, and will keep it.  It definitely makes life easier, way simpler to pull the bright green string to roll up the jib than all the work to drop the mainsail.  All the action happens while seated in the cockpit

Downsides: 
Sometimes it doesn't completely unfurl at the bottom when releasing, which is often because of the furling line (not sure what it's called) gets stuck in the cleat, and have to release it again.
The jib doesn't stay as close to the standing rigging line when unfurled.  This is largely not an issue, but sometimes the jib gets close to the side standing rigging lines.

I have, when wind is relatively light, gone forward to hank on the jib, but notice very little performance difference hanked or unhanked.  One sail used only the jib (left the mainsail in the cover) and noticed that pointing performance was total crap.  That trip had a large reliance on the trolling motor, but was super-easy on sail setup/takedown.  Would be nice to furl the mainsail

Paracord seems to work well for the line in the furler, and the extra cleat to tack it down at the edge of the cockpit works great.

Benefits:
Getting the sail ready (unfurling) or taking it down (furling) is super-quick.  The initial setup (e.g. after trailoring to launch ramp) is about the same with the furler in place.
The furler seems reliable and steady.  There appears to be no problem of potentially coming unfurled.  The jib sheets end up wrapped several turns around the rolled up sail.

Take this for what it is, not as nice as a CDI FF1, but also not as expensive.
tmw

[carry-on]

Thanks for the report. I recently added a wire luff jib with a RF76 furler. As you reported and as predicted, pointing was not good. The jib I used is about 105%, quite small. The wind on my outing was about 7 or 8 knots and shifting.
At first, I experienced some lee helm, which is not comforting. Once I got better tension on the jib luff, the sailing was good on a reach. Next outing, I will put a trucker's hitch in the halyard so the wire luff is better tensioned.
Considering the weather called for a 150% jib, the results were ok and as you stated, sail dousing is easy and compared to a 150 on deck the visibility is great when using the motor in the channel.

If you search the site, you will find an inexpensive, home made, lazy jack system for the main. I installed the system and it works great on the 16.
Happy sailing