Excess 11 Catamaran Review, Prices and Buying Advice

The Excess 11 catamaran that out-sailed bigger boats

When Cruising World's judges tested a dozen new boats for 2021, from million-dollar semicustom cruisers to big production monohulls, the overall winner was a 37 foot catamaran. The judges said no other nominee used space as well as the Excess 11, that only one boat in the fleet was cheaper, and that relative to its waterline none sailed better. Judge Mark Pillsbury compared the parent brand's Lagoons to a solid Buick and said the Excess actually lets you feel the wind and hear the water.

That verdict explains the whole concept. The Excess 11 catamaran is the entry point to Groupe Beneteau's Excess brand, built in Bordeaux and designed by VPLP for sailors who want catamaran living space without the condo-on-pontoons feel. It premiered at boot Dusseldorf in January 2020 and remains the best seller of a range that now also includes the Excess 13 and 14.

New tooling rather than a reworked Lagoon

The first two Excess models, the 12 and 15, were sportier derivatives of the Lagoon 40 and Lagoon 50 that shared their bridgedecks and inner hulls. The 11 was the first Excess drawn from scratch. SAIL describes twin chines running aft to add interior volume, a lower and sleeker profile than its siblings and a hard bimini with an unrounded edge chosen to save weight. Construction is three vacuum-infused sections with balsa coring in the deck and topsides.

Underneath, the keels are molded into the hull, filled with foam, capped and infused, with reinforced shoes that let the boat sit on its keels. They are engineered to break away in a severe side impact without compromising the hull's watertight integrity, so there are no keel bolts to worry about. Light displacement is 9,000 kg, or 19,845 pounds, which gives a displacement to length ratio of 187 according to SAIL.

Self-tacking jib or overlapping genoa: two sail plans to know

Early boats were sold with a square-top main and a self-tacking jib, about 829 square feet upwind on SAIL's test boat, with a 57 foot Z-Spar rig. In 2025 Excess introduced an overlapping genoa to give the boat more drive and feel, and the builder's current figures show a 57.5 square meter (619 sq ft) mainsail, a 32.5 square meter (350 sq ft) genoa and 90 square meters (969 sq ft) upwind. The Pulse Line package adds about 3 feet of mast and raises upwind area to 95.5 square meters (1,028 sq ft), and a 54 square meter Code 0 is optional on both.

For buyers, the jib type is a meaningful difference. The self-tacker makes the boat almost effortless for a couple, and testers praised it. The genoa boats are quicker in light air and point a little better, at the cost of grinding a sheet on every tack. Mast clearance is listed at 56 feet 8 inches, comfortably under the 65 foot bridges of the Intracoastal Waterway.

• LOA 37 ft 6 in (11.42 m), hull length 37 ft 2 in, beam 21 ft 7 in, draft 3 ft 9 in
• Light displacement 19,845 lb (9,000 kg)
• Fuel 2 x 200 L (106 US gal), water 300 L (79 US gal), black water 160 L
• CE category A for 8, B for 12, C for 16 people

Steering from the transoms with Dyneema cables

Like every Excess, the 11 has two wheels at the aft ends of the hulls and no flybridge. Each has a fold-up double seat, engine controls can be fitted to both sides, and the steering runs on short Dyneema cables rather than hydraulics, so the helm is light and tells you how the sails are balanced. The pleasant surprise for SAIL's tester was visibility: clear, untinted saloon glass lets you see through the cabin to the opposite bow, which many outboard-helm cats do not allow.

Testers did list small irritations. The optional accordion sunroof cannot be stood on, which makes stowing reefing lines in the lazy bag awkward, the hardtop nonskid stops short of slippery edges, and the anchor deploys from the forward crossbeam, which keeps chain off the hulls but carries weight well forward.

An owner's hull in a 37-foot cat

The Excess 11 comes in three or four-cabin versions, both with two heads. In the owner's layout the starboard hull becomes a suite with a large aft berth, about 2 by 2 meters according to the builder, cutaway corners so the bed is easy to make and get out of, and a big forward bathroom with a separate shower. The port hull has double cabins fore and aft sharing one large head and shower, which SAIL rightly preferred to two tiny wet heads.

The saloon and galley are compact but complete: an L-shaped settee forward, a real navigation station, an L-shaped galley with oven, two-burner hob and front-opening fridge. Every cabin gets a hull window with an opening port and a deck hatch. Cruising World's judges noted the forward tramps, effective cockpit and good galley as proof that nothing essential had been left out at this size.

Measured speeds on the Chesapeake

SAIL sailed the boat on Chesapeake Bay in 15 to 20 knots of true wind and flat water. At 70 degrees apparent in 15 knots the boat made 8 knots, carried speed well through tacks, and picked up about another knot with the Code 0 unrolled, peaking near 10 knots in gusts. Owners quoted by the builder say they sail faster than they motor from about 7 knots of apparent wind.

Under power the twin 29 hp Yanmars, set wide apart on a 21 foot 7 inch beam, gave 6.8 knots at wide open throttle and 3,100 rpm and a more economical 5.9 knots at 2,500 rpm, and the boat can walk sideways when needed. Those are modest numbers, so anyone planning long motoring legs should consider the hybrid or keep a close eye on the 106 gallon fuel supply.

Hybrid drive, Riders' Edition and a recyclable-resin hull

From summer 2025 Excess has offered the 11 with hybrid propulsion: two 10 kW electric pods, a 22 kVA generator, an 8 kVA charger-inverter and two lithium banks. The builder says the batteries give 2 to 5 hours of electric running, longer at reduced power, with the generator taking over for range. Cruising World noted the same system was planned for the Excess 13.

The Riders' Edition is an equipment pack aimed at wingfoilers, mountain bikers and anglers, with dedicated stowage for outdoor gear. In 2026 Excess also announced an Excess 11 built with recyclable Elium resin and recycled glass fiber, which it calls a first for a series-production catamaran. Expect these versions to carry a premium and to be rare on the brokerage market for several years.

Excess 11 for sale: what to pay and where value lies

SAIL listed its 2020 test boat at $450,000 as tested. New pricing has risen since, and we estimate $500,000 to $680,000 sail-away in the US depending on rig, cabins and hybrid power. Used Excess 11s from 2020 to 2024 generally ask between about $340,000 and $560,000, with charter-fleet four-cabin boats at the low end and privately owned three-cabin Pulse Line boats at the top.

Running costs are moderate for a cat this size: twin small diesels, saildrive service, rigging checks and a catamaran slip for a 21 foot 7 inch beam. Allow $22,000 to $40,000 a year depending on where you keep it. Because the 11 is in production with a strong dealer network, parts and know-how are easy to find.