Beneteau builds the boat, while the Excess marque emerged from the Beneteau Group only six years ago. That makes the 11 a product of a young but well-resourced brand. Its distinction lies not only in its size, but also in its intent. This is a boat for sailors who enjoy trimming sails, with sporty handling in a category often dismissed as merely roomy.
Design and Construction
The Excess 11 measures 11.42 meters overall, with a 6.59-meter beam, a 1.15-meter draft, and a displacement of 9,000 kg. It’s a high-volume cruising catamaran, but its displacement remains restrained.
The hulls flare noticeably above the waterline, increasing interior volume without adding wetted drag. The resulting chines help keep spray down when footing. Much of the foredeck is trampoline rather than solid structure, a deliberate choice that keeps weight and slamming loads well aft.
The shallow, long-chord keels are moulded as part of each hull, filled with foam, capped with laminate, and vacuum-infused with resin. Extra GRP-reinforced “shoes” carry vertical loads, allowing the boat to sit comfortably on its keels, and there are no keel bolts to worry about. In a major side impact, a keel is designed to fail without compromising the hull’s watertight integrity.
The rudders sit ahead of the propellers. This arrangement allowed the builder to move the engines right aft and free up space in the aft cabins.
Rig, Deck Layout, and Handling
Instead of a single raised helm, the Excess 11 has twin helms at main-deck level, aft and outboard of the superstructure. A high bulwark outboard improves the sense of security.
Dyneema steering cables run over a surprisingly short distance to reduce play and improve feel. The steering is light and responsive enough for the helmsman to sense the sailplan’s fore-and-aft balance.
The winches are mounted at deck level. A two-to-one halyard leads to a powered winch ahead of the starboard helm; only the headsail halyards and Code Zero furling line run to port. Most owners choose the self-tacking jib, although in-and-out haulers control the sheeting angles for the overlapping genoa.
The standard sailplan carries 77 m² of sail, rising to 82 m² with the Pulse line. Its large, powerful mainsail has a low boom, making it easier to stow from the coachroof. A foldable bowsprit hinges away to reduce the boat’s length in harbor. For light airs, the inventory includes a 54 m² Code Zero and a huge asymmetric.
Performance Under Sail
In their review, testers recorded more than 7 knots upwind in a Force 4, acceleration to 7.5 knots on a close reach, a compass tacking angle of 115º–120º, and a completely even keel upwind. Under the Code Zero, gusts at the top of its recommended wind range produced a maximum of 10.1 knots, with the wake fizzing off the transoms.
The Excess 11 won’t plane, but double-digit surfs are well within reach. A sailplan crossover table at the helms is a genuinely useful guide for matching sail choice to wind strength.
Accommodation and Stowage
Most owners choose the three-cabin layout. In the port hull, double cabins lie fore and aft, with a good-sized heads and separate shower between them. The starboard hull is devoted almost entirely to the owner’s suite. It has a huge aft double berth and a forward bathroom that feels nothing like a cramped heads. A sliding door across the stairs closes the suite off from the rest of the boat.
In the saloon, an L-shaped settee sits against the forward bulkhead, with a navigation station to starboard. The L-shaped galley includes a fixed oven, two-burner hob, and front-opening fridge. It’s modest in size, but sufficient for a couple or friends.
Every cabin has a large hull window with an opening port, along with a deckhead hatch. The owner’s cabin also has a locker and desk at the foot of its steps.
Six seats span the stern cockpit, supplemented by folding seats behind the helms. Further stowage is available beneath the saloon seats. The bow nacelle lockers commonly hold a second 300-liter water tank, and they can be converted into berths to reach the boat’s stated 12-person capacity.
Engines and Known Issues
The engine bays are accessed through deck panels that hinge aft, so servicing doesn’t require perching on the bathing platform. However, because the saildrives sit aft, the alternator, impeller, and water strainer are tucked forward and awkward to reach head-on. Those service points remain a real constraint.
More notably, the Dyneema steering cables that give the helm its good feel run immediately above the engines. HMPE rope has a maximum operating temperature of 70ºC, while some engines run hotter. In an engine fire, one cable could be lost, although steerage would remain available from the opposite wheel through the tie bar or emergency tiller. This arrangement presents a thermal and fire-risk caveat.
The Verdict
The Excess 11 is a distinctive small catamaran: a 37-foot cruiser with racing-derived DNA, responsive twin helms, and a layout that gives a couple genuine privacy in the owner’s cabin without wasting the beam.
The hybrid option announced for the boat adds quiet maneuvering and pure-electric cruising with generator-backed range. It does so without changing the helm arrangement, interior space, or styling that defines the Excess 11.
Pros
- VPLP race-cat heritage in a sub-40-foot cruising multihull
- Responsive, cable-steered twin helms with good feel
- Owner’s suite occupying a full hull, with a door that closes it off from the rest of the boat
- Keels designed to fail without flooding the hulls
- No keel bolts
Cons
- Forward engine-service points are awkward to reach
- Steering cables above the engines present a thermal and fire-risk caveat
