Marc,

My old Main was a loose footed main, as Neal has, with a shelve. When I
reefed that sail I never tied the reef points. Just left the sail slab
reefed. Worked OK except when sailing reefed in the rain. There wasn't
nearly enough cockpit to dodge the water dumped when Tacking.

I do have a Pilothouse sloop, so we were usually on the inside helm in
the rain. I could see it as a problem with a single helm boat.

Ole Thom