Excess 14 - Its aim is to combine the pleasure of sailing with great comfort

Four years after it was first launched, Excess, the youngest of the Bénéteau Group brands, unveiled its fourth model at the Cannes Yachting Festival. The Excess 14 has undeniably benefited from the enthusiasm of its designers – the architects and the shipyard team have given their all to carve the brand’s unique DNA into the polyester of this catamaran. On a trip between Cannes and Italy, Multihulls World got the chance for a 36-hour test of this new model.

Back in 2020, when the Bénéteau Group announced a 33% reduction in its portfolio of brands, one might have assumed that the fate of the young entity was sealed. But that would be without counting on three factors that proved to be decisive over its lack of maturity: the growth of the multihull market, which seems impervious to crises, the success of competitors claiming a rather seductive dynamism, and finally a team as young as it is enthusiastic. The Excess team, led by Thibaut de Montvalon, had no doubt for even a moment of the relevance of the brand’s positioning, which is more focused on performance and sailing pleasure than Lagoon. With the precious support of product manager Hervé Piveteau, an opportunely timed defector from Sun Fast, Thibaut has the ambition to put Excess into orbit... But don’t worry, it’s on the water that we accompanied the duo to discover this new opus that turned heads during its presentation last September.

A 110-mile delivery trip

It was in Port Canto, just at the end of Cannes’ famous La Croisette boulevard, that the team gave us an appointm...