The original poster is on a
Lagoon 440, it can handle as a big a sail as will fit the luff dimension. The more
power the better. He has queried the need for a pole/ prodder, as he already has an assy kite. The standard short
Lagoon prodder on a
boat this size is really only useful for one or two reasons:
1. Convenience. It is much easier to furl the sail away and can be done
single handed if you have an
autopilot, especially if sailing in variable or veering or gusting winds or through approaching short lived squalls and you want to hold course but not risk having the sail ripped apart.
and/or
2. Light
wind power with a flat code 0 at tighter upwind angles. This is a different sail and not really that useful past 100 AWA.
The disadvantage of the
sails kept on the prodder are that they are subject to UV degradation unless fitted with a heavier counter-productive suncover and secondly in severe gusty conditions the sail (unless very tightly and perfectly furled) can develop a wind pocket that will soon blow out to a bigger problem. The prodder based sail also will cause a blind spot and
sheets / foot of the sail may catch on the
lifelines and chafe/tear on tight angles, unless it has a high cut foot which reduces sail area/power. Also the stay wires on the prodder interfere with
anchor bridles especially in wind against tide conditions. One minor point is that quite often
marinas and
mooring fields specify
LOA as the measure to pay by or max size of
boat allowed, a prodder adds to that length, the
Lagoon prodder does fold away, but is a another hassle.