My experience in high winds
My experience with sailing the 260 with main alone in winds in excess of 20 knots, whether reefed or not, is that the boat just does not handle well. I have a solid vang and the only way I can get any control is to pull it as tight as possible. Even so, there is still an alarming tendency to go into stays and even sail backward. I would not like to get caught in tight quarters in a big blow with just the main up. My mainsail ( not the standard sail) has only 1 reef point and is probably only about a 20% reduction in sail area. My original sail also has only 1 reef point but it is probably about a 50% reduction in sail area. I know I need to add a second reef point in my working sail but I just hate to send it off...