Reading recent posts re: when to reef, change sails, etc. leaves me wanting my two cents in the pool and hoping for feedback, so fire away. Just a few weeks ago I received my new Elliot Pattison main and what everyone else must refer to as a 'storm jib' - I would call it an '85', as in percent, or #3. I have only been out twice in the new sails and both days the wind was light and I didn't get to really get a good read on either - except that the new main seems to resist excessive healing much better than the old, blown out main I had before. I ordered the 'storm jib' for two reasons: the first being that the bulk of my prior experience was racing in the Moore 24 fleet in Santa Cruz. Most Moore 24s don't have reef points on the main and the jib is changed in response to the wind instead. It seemed to work there and I wanted to work with what I know best on IOTA. My experience w/ the M-15 with the full main and the 110/working/#2 sail is that weather helm is an issue over about 12kts. Putting in the first reef helped but the boats responsiveness went down the drain and a gust would still round me up without reefing the jib. Reefing the jib left the boat handling like a garbage scow, hence my second reason for the small jib: Try to keep well cut sails in the air before wadding them halfway down on the boom. Now my sailplan will work something like: 10-12kts main and regular #2 jib. 10-15kts main and 'storm'/#3/85% jib. 15-20+ First reef and storm jib. 20++ I really gotta wonder, what am I doing out here in a 15ft boat? This plan has the added advantage of heading to the bow to change the foresail before it really pipes up; I figure this is a good idea on an M-15 - lifelines or not. With typical summer weather upon Monterey Bay, I should be able to test my new plan soon and will report back. Lemme know what you think..... Blake Reimer M-15 IOTA P.S. I'm hardly an expert, and I like the fit, finish and price of EP's OEM M-15 sails.