Reefing a 20's main?

Just tried a 16 this weekend for my wife and me (310lbs of crew, early 50's, great lakes and large inland lakes). It seems a bit small and rides a bit low in the water for our tastes so we continuing to look for a boat to compliment the 21sc we're uzin' for cruzin'. Got a local miracle 20 in good shape all around that's available but we can't sail it til it comes out deep in the storage barn. I know it's a powerful rig so I'm wondering if it's possible to reef the mainsail. It's the original main and therefore not a big loss or "yikes" to go cutting and sewing reef points on it, won't be class racing in the foreseeable future, the boat has a boom to tie the reefed foot to...
Any one done this or considered it? I've got an 18's mast that I could change the whole rig but more complicated and maybe less doable.
Thanks group!

Tim
H21sc

18 and 20 mast don't interchange that easily. Why not go with a furling Jib on the 20 to depower? Hobie optional kit
or look for an H18 it will take the weight and be more beach versatile like your 21. The 20 it a great platform but you have to baby it with wheels and pads or you will have hull problems.

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Corkguy H18, Tiger, Wildcat

Yes, furler for the jib is in the works and we're not going to be beach sailing it so the tender care should be okay. I'm assuming I'd have to reef it deep enough to get just below the comptip and maybe put another halyard lock there too. Spitballin'

I had reefing grommets put in my Getaway's mainsail, and it's boomless. I roll it up and tie it around the battens in the roll. I have a 6' line that I tie between the main halyard and the top of the sail so I can still lock the halyard into the clips. Cost about $100 for North Sails to install the grommets, and it works very well.

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Icebirds" - 1974 Skeeter iceboat
Too many canoes and kayaks

There are a couple problems with reefing the mainsail on boats with the hook & ring halyard arrangement. They all have to do with how to support the mainsail in the "lowered' position.

You could just lower the halyard to the reefing point and then cleat it off. The problem is that the halyard will stretch under load which will most likely make your downhaul (and possibly mainsheet) ineffective. There's also some potential risk of breaking the halyard or halyard sheaves/castings since none of these components are really intended to support the full mainsheet & downhaul loads.

Another option would be to add a pigtail (low stretch cord or stainless steel cable) between the head of the mainsail and the halyard ring which drops the head of the mainsail down to the predetermined reef point. The problem here is that you would have to fully lower the mainsail, install the pigtail, and then re-hoist the sail to the reef point. Not exactly convenient. It might also be difficult to engage/disengage the halyard ring without it being supported by the head of the sail (i.e., it may just want to flop around).

The last option would be what you described - add a second hook to the mast. The problem here is that you would have to attach the hook to the aluminum part of the mast which would drop the sail down about 8 feet (that's a big reef). You also have the potential for the hook to poke into the sail when the sail is fully hoisted. Lastly, the comptip hook is not shaped to fit on the aluminum part of the mast, it is designed to fit on the much smaller tip of the mast. So you would either have to try and find an old H18 hook from an all-aluminum mast or have a custom hook made (or possibly modify the bend on a comptip hook).

The other issue is that the head of the sail is going to want to pull out of the comptip track. You would need to purchase a section of aluminum luff track to support the head of the sail at the reef point.

sm