On the boat I just bought in April, hull 143, the reef cringles are pulled down and attached to a clip that is shackled to the gooseneck by a short (6" for first reef and about 8" for second reef) braided wire pennant.  This seems better to me than having to wrestle an unwilling cringle over a hook, but I won't know until next month.  My gooseneck  slides, so the luff can be tightened by gooseneck downhaul and/or halyard.  The two pennants just hang there when not being used.  An alternative could be a lashing using a nylon strop.