Installing a used roller furling on a Capri 22

[pdxjohnny]

Hey all,
The wonderful human Chris who sold me my C22 last year included a bunch of spare parts including the original roller furling for the heads -sail and the original mainsail. The boat currently has 2 beautiful head sails (they use a track, not hanks) because the 2nd owner raced the boat extensively. They are both beautiful sails, however the allure of the simplicity in a furling headsail intrigues me. The original 155% genoa looks to be in decent condition and we're not planning on racing this summer so I'd like to install the furler. I have no idea how though.

I'm 100% confident I have all the parts. The boat is currently on the hard and i'll have to raise the mast this spring when I put it in the water (end of march is the plan). A couple of assumptions and then some questions.

Assumptions (and these are based on mostly ignorance so please chime in where i'm wildly off):

1. The best time to install a furling system is when the mast is already down
2. The furling system fits the boat, however after 8-10 years the forestay may have stretched
3. An old 155% genoa that's in reasonable, albeit old, condition is plenty good for non-racing on the Columbia river here in PDX
4. After I go through the pain of installing the furling system i'll have learned some stuff and that has value long term
5. I'll be happy with a furling system because I mostly take non-sailors with me and it'll be easier to single-hand while they smile, drink beer and stumble around the boat

Ok and now some questions:

1. From 1-10 what's the level of complexity and difficulty installing a furling system?
2. Should I take it apart and re-grease the bearings or do any other service on the system prior to installation?
3. How on earth is this thing going to fit?
4. Am I taking on a project that is unquestionably difficult for 1-2 adult humans to do by themselves or is this best left to a professional rigger... stand aside little man type thing

What questions should I be asking right now that I'm not? Wait, anyone in the Portland area want to make some beer money?

 

[Tally Ho]

Hey all,
The wonderful human Chris who sold me my C22 last year included a bunch of spare parts including the original roller furling for the heads -sail and the original mainsail. The boat currently has 2 beautiful head sails (they use a track, not hanks) because the 2nd owner raced the boat extensively. They are both beautiful sails, however the allure of the simplicity in a furling headsail intrigues me. The original 155% genoa looks to be in decent condition and we're not planning on racing this summer so I'd like to install the furler. I have no idea how though.

I'm 100% confident I have all the parts. The boat is currently on the hard and i'll have to raise the mast this spring when I put it in the water (end of march is the plan). A couple of assumptions and then some questions.

Assumptions (and these are based on mostly ignorance so please chime in where i'm wildly off):

1. The best time to install a furling system is when the mast is already down
2. The furling system fits the boat, however after 8-10 years the forestay may have stretched
3. An old 155% genoa that's in reasonable, albeit old, condition is plenty good for non-racing on the Columbia river here in PDX
4. After I go through the pain of installing the furling system i'll have learned some stuff and that has value long term
5. I'll be happy with a furling system because I mostly take non-sailors with me and it'll be easier to single-hand while they smile, drink beer and stumble around the boat

Ok and now some questions:

1. From 1-10 what's the level of complexity and difficulty installing a furling system?
2. Should I take it apart and re-grease the bearings or do any other service on the system prior to installation?
3. How on earth is this thing going to fit?
4. Am I taking on a project that is unquestionably difficult for 1-2 adult humans to do by themselves or is this best left to a professional rigger... stand aside little man type thing

What questions should I be asking right now that I'm not? Wait, anyone in the Portland area want to make some beer money?

Do the head sails (with the track) stay up all the time, or do you lower them like you do a banked-on sail? Can you use them at the same time (like wing-on-wing)? Just curious. I am assuming “No” to both questions.

A furling system is certainly nice, and I think safer, since you can stay in the cockpit and furl/unfurl it.

You would need to disconnect the headstay to install the furler…but that should not be a big deal on a 22 footer…I assume you lower the mast all the time to transport the boat.

I would inspect the furle, in particular the drum and whatever mechanism it uses for rotation. On my old Flexible Furler, there are no bearing, and the plastic drum just spins on a plastic frame. I do throw some grease between the 2 pieces of plastic when I commission the boat in the spring. Others use bearings, but I would be surprised on a 22 footer furler.

Make sure the old 155 has a bolt rope that fits in the furler slot…. And check the halyard swivel to make sure it spins freely.

Halyard wrap and damages to the stay is the biggest concern, but if you check out the operation, you should be fine.

I think a reasonably handy person should be able to install it.

Greg

 

[pdxjohnny]

Currently I have to lower and take off the head sails each time I put the boat away. We put them back in their sail bags. They're not really meant to stay on all the time and I do have to go to the foredeck to launch the bigger sail because it's thick and gets caught up easily. I can't use them at the same time because they use the same track in the forestay, but that would be pretty rad to run a 95%, 140% and the main on a 22' boat

I'll give the furler a good once-over and inspect it carefully. If it's like everything else on this boat it's in great condition and well cared for. I'm the 4th owner and the 2nd was the person who put on all the racing gear and bought the new sails. IIRC that was like 2008-10ish.

It's a fun boat. I bought it as my first boat last July and i'm excited to get her back in the water and floating along again. Sailing is just much fun. I'm still in the newlywed phase, which I'm happy to take just as long as I can.

 

[Tally Ho]

Take some photos of the furler, and maybe we can help identify it (and maybe find a manual).

Sounds like a lot of fun…


Greg

 

[pdxjohnny]

Ok quick update, I identified the furler as a CDE FF2. It's in really good condition and I have all the parts for it. I think the swap should be fairly straightforward since it was on the boat at some previous time.

My next project has been painting the bottom. This is the result after much washing and scrubbing with acetone.
I expect folks to say I need to clean it perfectly, but I just can't get all the black old paint & goo off. Also, I notice the boat has some fiberglass repair in the bow, which they didn't sand. I'll take some 60 grit to that to smooth it out.

 

[pdxjohnny]

Another update. Today I opened the Interlux VC17 I bought last year from West Marine when I was going to paint the bottom, but didn't get to do. Check this out...

The box is in perfect condition. Both cans of paint are severely damaged, one of them is completely empty. So the West Marine warehouse must have shipped it empty. Crazy.

 

[Tally Ho]

Another update. Today I opened the Interlux VC17 I bought last year from West Marine when I was going to paint the bottom, but didn't get to do. Check this out...

The box is in perfect condition. Both cans of paint are severely damaged, one of them is completely empty. So the West Marine warehouse must have shipped it empty. Crazy.

Bummer.

That is a quick $100 bucks or more down the drain. VC17 has been reformulated (can’t tell if your cans are the new version or not). My local store was out of the “red” version last month.

Hope you can something on the bottom.


Greg

 

[justsomeguy]

CDE FF2

"CDI" FF2.
There's stuff online, like manuals and whatnot, with all you'll need to know.

 

[pdxjohnny]

Yes, CDI FF2, not CDE. It has all the stuff and is already cut so i'm hoping it's fairly easy to install. I just need it to stop raining so much

Hey I have to give props to marine west for refunding me on the original paint order. It's a bummer their warehouse pulled that cheeky move to begin with, but Customer Support was nice, prompt and reasonable. I hope it doesn't take a month to get here though, that would really suck. I've already stripped the bottom and paid marina fees so I'm super ready to go.

 

[BillL Capri 22]

Pulling the CDI FF2 apart is one person job and pretty low on the difficulty scale.
Mine's hanging in the garage b/c my 150 blew apart and the backup headsails have hanks.
I haven't tried to put it back together yet.
Consider getting a zip-on headsail cover (a Sunbrella tube w/a long zipper), which is raised with the spin halyard, even if you have a UV-resistant panel.

"CDI FF2" is enough to provide the spec for the bolt rope in the new sail, just tell the loft that's the furler you have.