HA Ha Ha !!!
The last Hobie race i witnessed at Lake Mohave ; maybe 50+
cats and it was blowing 30+ on the water ...

Almost Everyone sat on shore with there cats rigged , less
there sails, and on there beach-wheels.

YEP -- they all watched me & a buddy of mine, while we were on our kite boards.
Only person out with a cat, was a rather
talented Dude, with his Daughter on a Hobie-18 ; they were
having an Absolute BLAST !!!

After witnessing that ; I Never had any desire to go
racing with the Hobie crowd (.)

SO to answer your question : " did anyone ever win a major Hobie race with a reefed sail"?

That would be probably NO, because the field would be Too
scared to go sailing in a 30+ ; so they would Call the race!
HAHA !!!

====================================================

On our Hobie 20 , we made an extension for the halyard, at
the top of the reefed Main ; that way we could still use the
down-hull.The problem with that system was that it took
too long to reef the sail in the middle of the lake.

I think a rolling boom is a better way to go ; much Faster
way to reduce sail aria when Ya see the wind-lines marching
towards you ? In higher winds ; i kinda Want the sail to
have less camber anyway.

Getting rid of the jib is Fast ; just as fast as deploying
it, with a furling mechanism !

One other thing :
In High winds, the prudent skipper,will NOT be Maxing out his
boat, (it's the entire reason to get rid of sail aria) in
the first place ; so flipping your cat is actually Harder
with the lowered moment of Power, on your mast.

Bille