Just purchased 1979 CP16 - Gulf Coast of Central West Florida

[HideAway]

I ve not sailed a 16-its a very different boat than my 23 but I can say that going to a loose footed main sail has made a great difference in pointing and weather helm.   Now I don t have serious weather helm until the wind gets into the 20s and that s because I have to tighen the out haul to flatten the sail.  Less weather helm means less 'slippage'   Another major improvement was getting a new main sail - we don t have to back the jib to tack.

  I made two videos about the loose footed main -  Sailing with a Loose Foot and The Third of the Fourth- the latter of which was in pretty high winds.  The other big improvement you can see on this site is changing the rudder to a shape like the keel.  I havent made that change yet but others report good results - reduced weather helm and better handling - in all versions of Compac.   Matt

[mandolinut]

To Eric,
You asked about "slippage". Our 16 foot boats with 18" keels are a trade off. Allows you to go where others cannot go but also allows for more slippage. Deeper keels usually point higher into the wind and have less drift.    The good and comforting news is that there is plenty of weight in our keels for most conditions. Like a lifeboat with a sail :0)