Design Insight
Nimble, cool and perfectly formed
Good taste, first class naval architecture and excellent construction combined with the resources of the world’s biggest boatbuilder... the results were always going to be hard to beat
Most cruising catamarans are stodgy to sail, but Bénéteau’s new Excess brand aims to bring back the fun. Excess cats are lighter and faster, more nimble and powerful, with a sail area : displacement ratio 10 per cent higher. How much difference does 10 per cent make? We sailed the first two models in Mallorca to find out.
First impressions
Walking along a dock towards an Excess cat, the first thing you’ll notice is the exceptionally tall mast. The Excess 12 has a bridge clearance of 18.3m (59ft 11in), while the Excess 15’s masthead is 27.9m (91ft 6in) above the waterline. And that’s just the standard rig. The sportier Pulse Line rig adds another metre or two. At sea, these yachts make a striking impression. Viewed from afar, with battleship grey sails and raked forestay the lofty rig of an Excess cat cuts the horizon like the dorsal fin of a mako shark. Get a bit closer and you’ll notice the distinctive styling by Patrick le Quémant, the famous car designer who more recently began drawing boats (including Outremers and Gunboats). Stepping aboard via a sidedeck or the inside aft quarter of one of the hulls, which are cleverly designed to function as dinghy docks, you’ll note the excellent ergonomics – reach out in any direction and a secure handhold seems to fall naturally to hand – and then the enormous expanse of cockpit. As you take the helm or choose a seat, you can’t fail to notice the remarkable field of vision: near perfect sight lines
70 SEAHORSE
especially from the helm and the view through the bridgedeck is so clear you can almost forget it’s there.
Design and construction The design brief was to create a range of yachts aimed at keen, experienced sailors and restore the sensations of ‘proper’ sailing that monohull owners so often miss when they sail a cruising cat. The platform to hull length ratio is short – usually an indicator of good performance and seakeeping – and there’s more volume in the bow sections than you might expect, to damp the pitching motion under way. The hulls have a surprisingly high load-carrying capacity, which is a big bonus for blue water cruising. They have fixed keels rather than daggerboards, which does widen their tacking angle but reduces the risk of breakages and makes them easier to sail. Regular resins, fibres and core materials are used rather than high- cost carbon composites but vacuum infusion keeps the weight down. More weight and cost savings are achieved by reducing the amount of furniture – for example, open lockers rather than chests of drawers – and by building it as integrated modules instead of individual pieces.
On deck
Three wide, moulded steps take you up onto the sidedecks with handholds on both sides. The titanium-coated stanchions and mooring cleats are a nice touch and all of the sail-handling hardware is high-quality kit. There’s no forward
Above:
Bénéteau’s new Excess brand offers a refreshing change from the typical cruising cat stereotype. These yachts are lighter and faster, more nimble and powerful, designed for experienced sailors rather than novice holidaymakers – and that makes them a lot more fun to sail. One of the key design hallmarks of the range is the notably full and high volume bow sections that reduce the pitching motion and also, perhaps surprisingly, tested better in a short chop than slimmer bow shapes that were tried
cockpit on either model, which saves on save weight, but there’s space for a large, cushioned sunpad on the foredeck of the Excess 15. Up at the bows there’s an alloy crossbeam braced by a slender longeron that serves as a conduit for the anchor chain, leading forward from a locker in the leading edge of the bridgedeck to a bow roller on the crossbeam that can hold a wide range of modern anchor types. Both yachts have a long bowsprit for code sails and gennakers, hinged on the forward crossbeam and supported by twin martingale stays that are anchored to the hulls just above the waterline. A code sail can stay securely locked on its furler while the self-tacking jib is in use. The cockpit layout is excellent. These boats are as easy to sail singlehanded as any other cruising multihull, yet they reward active participation by the rest of the crew: three or four keen sailors can have fun working the boat without getting in each other’s way. Neat, generously sized rope bins next to the primary winches stop the cockpit sole from turning into a snakes’ wedding. The huge convertible roof has a transformative effect on the cockpit. There’s a great view of the sails from the two helm stations even when it’s shut, but the open roof gives the whole crew an equally clear view.
Rig and sailplan
The Excess cats’ masts are stepped much further aft than on the last generation of cruising cats. This is a hallmark of recent designs by VPLP
CHRISTOPHE.LAUNAY
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