Excess

2019

France

Excess is the catamaran sailing brand of the French Bénéteau Group, officially launched in 2018. The brand was created in response to the expectations of the younger generation of sailors for a ‘more fun, less constrained’ way of sailing. In contrast to traditional catamarans, which emphasise stability and comfort, Excess focuses on fun handling and sporty performance, which is directly reflected in its overall design. The Excess design team is made up of experienced boat engineers from Lagoon and Bénéteau, but they decided early on in the project to move away from Lagoon and try to respond to the market's demand for a new type of catamaran by using a more minimalist, lightweight design language.

Introducing Excess Yachts: The Catamaran Brand for Young Sailors

Brand origins and history

Excess is the catamaran sailing brand of the French Bénéteau Group, founded in 2019. The birth of this new brand is a direct response to the changes in modern sailing lifestyles.The Bénéteau Group, the world's leading yacht builder for more than 130 years, recognised that a new generation of sailing enthusiasts was looking for something different from what they had been used to - something more free, more personal and more fun to sail.

As a result, Excess has emerged not as a product line expansion in the traditional sense, but as a new strategic brand placement. It is aimed at sailors who do not want to compromise: they want to enjoy spatial comfort, but also pursue a sense of driving and sportiness.

The brand's production sites

Excess yachts are produced in factories on the French Atlantic coast, specifically in the Vendee region. This region gathers the most mature marine industry chain resources in Europe. From material supply, composite material processing, to hull painting and interior installation, the production process is highly automated and retains some of the key manual processes to ensure process precision and product consistency.

At the same time, Excess leverages the global manufacturing management system of the Bénéteau Group to ensure the time control and quality control of each vessel from design to delivery.

Brand design and innovation

Excess was designed by the renowned naval architecture firm VPLP, a design team that has worked on several America's Cup and round-the-world racing yachts. They have brought race class design concepts to leisure catamarans, reinforcing the performance foundation of Excess sailing.

Unlike traditional catamarans, which are more domestic in nature, the Excess has been designed from the outset with more sporty elements: a low centre of gravity, twin rudder system, adjustable sail area, open cockpit, etc., which enhance the feel and handling feedback when sailing under wind. The design team also placed special emphasis on 360 degree visibility and natural ventilation to enhance comfort for extended periods of sailing.

Product Range Overview

Up to now, the main products launched by Excess include the Excess 11, Excess 12 and Excess 14 models. These models cover the 36 to 48 foot range and are aimed at users of compact to mid-size catamarans. Each model offers both standard and upgradable options to suit different user experiences and lifestyle preferences.

The Excess 14 is the current flagship, offering enhanced sailing capabilities and a more flexible hull layout. Equipped with twin rudders and asymmetric sail system, it provides a more direct handling experience and is suitable for experienced skippers or users with certain racing needs.

Yacht Product Style

The overall style of Excess is young and simple, removing the heavy elements common to traditional catamarans. The exterior adopts sharp lines and light proportions, advocating the design language of ‘lightweight + sense of flow’. For the interior, more light-coloured wood and matte metal are used, emphasising natural light and spatial transparency.

Unlike catamarans that focus on luxury or family functions, the Excess' cabin design deliberately reduces non-essential space, leaving more practical areas for manoeuvring, walking and storage. The overall feeling is more in favour of a sporty yacht rather than a sea villa.

Yacht Usage Scenarios

The target users of Excess are usually young people with some sailing experience, who want to be able to sail on their own, but also share the holiday sailing with family and friends. Compared with monohull sailing yachts, Excess provides a more stable sailing experience, which is suitable for inter-island travelling, coastal cruising or long time mooring.

Many users use the Excess as a round-the-world sailboat or as a family holiday alternative. Its hull structure allows for long periods of self-sustainable sailing, and there is plenty of room for sustainable equipment such as solar panels and fresh water systems.

Sustainability

Excess has also made a lot of efforts in terms of sustainability. The brand uses recyclable composites and low VOC resins in its hull structures to minimise the environmental impact of the manufacturing process, and Excess is also one of the first catamaran brands to support an integrated renewable energy solution, with solar roofs and lithium-ion energy management systems available on some models.

In addition, the brand encourages users to participate in the green sailing community to promote environmental sailing knowledge and enhance the awareness of the connection between sailing and ecological protection.

Customer Experience and Brand Culture

Excess attaches great importance to the ‘initiative’ of user experience. Users can customize the hull colour, interior style, power system and other configurations on the official website or at the authorized agent. The brand does not emphasise luxury, but rather the right to choose what suits your personality.

In terms of offline activities, Excess often organises sailing camps, sailing training courses and community gatherings for young skippers in Europe to increase the sense of interaction between the brand and its users. Freedom, autonomy and balance’ are the three key words in the brand culture, representing the imagination of the new generation of sailors for life at sea.

Conclusion

Excess is not a traditional ‘comfort catamaran’ brand, but a new species standing at the crossroads of the times. It is a new species standing at the crossroads of the times. It is aimed at the user group who know and love boats, who are willing to handle them themselves, and who value the expression of life style. With its balance of sportiness and spaciousness, youthful design, interactive community and sustainable philosophy, Excess is gradually changing the market's stereotype of catamaran sailing.

For those who want to embark on a life of leapfrogging, but don't want to compromise on the pleasure of sailing, the Excess is a more up-to-date maritime companion.