Ernst, Ditto on welcome to the group. Dave Scobie, as he mentioned, put together an excellent description of reefing. I took the liberty of summarizing Dave's description, for my own use. Any errors are exclusively mine! - Brad REEFING an M15 SETUP 1. Steer the boat so the wind is blowing about 10 degrees off the starboard bow. 2. Loose the main sheet, lock the tiller so the boat stays pointed into the wind and go forward. 3. Sit on the starboard cabin top, as a sailboat’s reefing gear should be on the starboard side of the mast and boom, with legs hanging inside the companionway. METHOD ONE First, secure the topping lift, as you're about to lower the main sail and don't want the boom falling down. a. Lower the main using the halyard so the reef tack grommet is about four inches above the gooseneck. b. Retie the main halyard to the cleat. c. Reach aft long the boom and pull the clew reefing line so the clew grommet is secured tight to the boom. d. On the mast pull the reef tack line and pull the tack grommet tight to the gooseneck & secure. DONE. *METHOD TWO* (again, be sure topping lift is secured first) 4. Lower the MainSail, retie Halyard 5. Tighten Fore Tack Grommet to Boom by pulling Tack Grommet Reefing Line 6. Pull Main Halyard to Raise Sail to Full Length 7. Tighten Aft clew Grommet by pulling clew Reefing Line DONE. Now go aft, grab the tiller, pull in the sails and continue sailing.