The new Excess 14 made its U.S. debut at the Miami International Boat Show, and a first walk-through revealed several features geared toward making this a comfortable cruising cat with an emphasis on fun sailing. Excess has collaborated with VPLP Design to create asymmetrical hulls to reduce drag and a higher bridgedeck to reduce slamming. The keels, too, have been redesigned to be thinner, slightly deeper, and with a reduced cord length—all to improve upwind performance. Twin helms are located directly over the rudders, which have also been deepened, and a Dyneema steering system allows for maximum feel at the helm. Bulkheads are infused foam rather than plywood to save weight, and carbon fiber has been added to the main bulkheads as well. The mast is deck-stepped, rather than on the cabintop, which allows for a lighter cabintop structure as well as great accessibility to the mainsail via three steps up to the boom. According to Thibaut de Montvalon, Excess catamarans’ director, 80 percent of Excess customers are monohull sailors who don’t want to sacrifice the fun and feel of sailing for the comforts of a catamaran, and the new Excess 14 aims to bridge this gap.
