I know exactly ZERO about sailing cats, and just north of zero about sailing monos! And I'm a huge chicken! If there's any question, I like to reef early, and reef much. (Unlike Doug, who seems to reef mostly when he sees the panicked look on my face!)

It's absolutely something that should be working on a charter boat, but my anxiety about squalls taught me very quickly that if you can see one coming, you should reef. No gauge required. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />