EXCESS 14

CAN SPACIOUS PERFORMANCE CRUISING MULTIHULLS BE BUILT IN LARGE VOLUMES AT COMPETITIVE PRICES? EXCESS THINKS SO

We’re sailing upwind in 12-14 knots of true wind, with boat speed hovering between 7.4 and 8.0 knots. The helm feels positive and responsive, the boat tacks easily and responds readily to accurate sail trim.

Aside from the lack of heel, it’s the type of experience and real-world cruising speeds you might expect of a 50-something-foot monohull performance cruiser. Yet, this is an enormously spacious 26ft wide platform from the world’s largest boatbuilder, not a niche builder of expensive high-performance designs. Until now, anyone looking for a catamaran

that’s fun and rewarding to sail had a limited choice. Granted, yards such as Outremer and Marsaudon Composites produce fantastic boats, but they can be complex, while high-tech construction and low build volumes inevitably mean hefty prices.

Groupe Beneteau identified a gap in the market into which it launched the Excess brand four years ago. How did the yard achieve good sailing qualities and performance in a high-volume production boat with a commensurate price tag? A policy to chase weight savings in every area, without creating an expensive high-tech boat, started with a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the entire structure by VPLP's Vannes office, which normally deals with race boats.

Carbon reinforcement was added to highly stressed areas, such as the fully infused PET foam sandwich bulkheads, while weight was dropped from lightly stressed zones including hull skins, through using a lower-density end grain balsa core. This is divided into small squares, separated by resin, so localised damage won't allow water ingress to spread. Layup is monolithic in way of the engines and keels, while the deck is PET foam sandwich.