It's one that is always in the front of my mind when sailing down wind. I have always lived by the adage that "if you're thinking about reefing you should already have done it". After spending almost 8 months as crew from Los Angles to the Virgin Islands, my crew guy asked me how I always knew when to reef as we had never been caught? My answer was by asking him "if he remembered all those times we drifted along reefed when we didn't need to be? His answer was that "no, that he didn't remember". I've had to claw my sail down a time or two so your point is well taken but I try really hard not to find myself in that situation. I suppose that it's a matter of how far you're willing to push the envelope and that you remember the exciting times and not so much the boring ones. Your point about it being a safety factor is a good one.