Hello- I rarely post to the list, but thought I would put my two cents in on reefing. Reefing, on a close reach works, but can be dicey since the M15 will only sail herself as long as the wind remains steady, and the crew remains in one place. I tend to leave reefing until playing the main is needed in the gusts, which makes things worse. Also, I'm always worried that the boat would sail away without me if I happened to fall off. Reefing hove is stress free by comparison. The M15 is very stable hove- to. It will fore- reach at about 1 knot, but as long as I have sea room I don't worry about this. Adjusting the sails might slow the boat, but I haven't spent much time trying to find out what effect this might have. The boat will stay hove to no matter what the wind does, and heels much less than when close reaching. Here's how I heave to and reef: To heave to: -I tack the boat without uncleating the jib. -Then I sail the new tack until the boat looses most of it's forward momentum. -When the boat has slowed enough, I can lash the tiller over so it is steering the boat to windward without the boat being at risk of tacking. The boat is now hove to. To reef: -I slack the main so the front 2/3 or so is luffing. -Then I uncleat the downhaul and lower the main until I can tie a line through the front reef eye to the boom goose neck. -Next I pull in the reef line. I'm careful not to over tighten it. There is a 2-1 purchase, and the sail is much smaller, so it's easy to make it too tight. -Then I raise the sail, and downhaul it. -Last, I tie the reef points. I only use them to hold the extra sail, not to add tension. -With this done, I can unlash the helm and set sail on my new course. Without a topping lift this will be more difficult, but I think the procedure should be the same. -Ian M15 #300