My friend Wayne sails a Seaward 22 and after he bought his CDI Roller Fuler he had some concerns about getting enough tension on the fore stay without bending his mast back, as his boat is a fractional rig. He added an extra fore stay from a tang at the top of his mast to a bracket that he made for his bow. I guess you could say that this set up can serve another purpose beside taking up the tension without bending the mast. If the fuler fore stay should part, the extra fore stay will keep the mast from falling over back on top of you.
What make is your furler? Is a roller reefing furler with a vinyl luff that fits over the fore stay like the CDI?
I've been told by Rudy at D&R Marine where I bought my furler that small boats such as ours can get away without the ball bearings in the drum. He recommended that the washer for the drum to turn on will work just as easy and never freeze up. It's only when you get into larger sloops that you would need the ball bearings under the furler drum due to the length and weight of the fuler and sail combined.
He told me that ball bearings have a tendency to corrode and freeze up if they're not cleaned and lubed regularly. Pulling hard on a drum control line could cause the fore stay to twist and break if the bearings aren't free to move. This is where your extra fore stay could come in handy.
I don't know but maybe the PO of your boat may have had something else in mind when he add this stay though.
If you have a good roller furler I recommend that you use it on this boat especially if it's a reefing furler. If you plan on trailering this boat, a furler can make mast raising/lowering difficult with that extra weight which can also be cumbersome. In this case, I recommend that you use a Gin Pole of some kind if your rig can allow it.
All I can say is I love my CDI Roller Furler. You can't beat a good furler.
Joe