The best Excess yet? Volume and reasonable speed at a competitive price

Toby is my favorite, he is such a great presenter and spokesman nice cat, very nice

Great boat. Thanks for the review, Toby

Another great review. Thanks.

The boat next to you is a beast…

Why do I picture a HUGE fight at the Beneteau office? Monsieur Rockford Cognac from VPLP swinging the couch cushion at Mrs. Josephine Beneteau and yelling "YOU ASKED FOR A CHEAP OUTREMER, YOU WITCH, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT!!!". And Mrs. Josephine Beneteau hitting him back with a frying pan from the galley screaming "BUT I WANT A BIGGER VANITY, TOO, PIERRE-JEAN! SO GIMME!!!" Given Beneteau's tremendous cost-cutting capabilities this will be cheaper than Outremer. But it's already not as fun. No swinging helms, for one... BOOOO! However, there is ONE thing that I would happily have on Outremer - NO BLOODY ROPE SPAGHETTI IN THE COCKPIT!!!!!!!! MY GOD, Outremer is cluttered with lines going everywhere. This is a much neater design.

Thanks for the review, Ive just recently heard of this brand out of Beneteau

Outside of how well you like the layout it's interesting to see how Group Beneteau develops and merchandises their products. What are the features that will differentiate in the market? They seem to really think that steering feel and experience will drive sales while galley layout isn't so important. Customers will sacrifice other things to get that direct experience. I also love the implied criticism of the quality of Lagoon Cats.

How does one protect themselves from foul weather when at either of the helms?

Would be interesting to know if and how the production differs from what Beneteau i doing in the case of Lagoon...

I would have been nervous berthing alongside Eddie Jordan's Oyster 495, Tortuga! Nautitech 44 Open won EYOTY ahead of Excess, but which do you prefer having sailed both?

For the price there's a lot of white GRP on show and i'm not a big fan of those exposed twin helms.. Good space in the hulls but the saloon looked a tad pinched. I'd still take one though :)

like it

How to Med moor with dinghy on davits against a higher pier? This requires at least 3 m distance. Same issue as on Lagoon 40…

Seems like the same hall as a Nautitech 44 Open

I would really appreciate a bit more of pros and cons or the old style of who is this boat for. Would be nice to use Toby’s immense knowledge to cut through some of the marketing rubbish.

A lot of blindspots for the sailing on the Solent e.g. coming out of Portsmouth harbour

I'll take 2 please 😂

Good value for money at face value but given that it's made in the Beneteau group which doesn't have a stellar record when it comes to quality, including Lagoon and their numerous bulkhead failures, I'd have serious concerns.

She is a decent boat but I am not a fan of those exposed aft helms

2 Exposed helms .... not great thinking for modern cruisers ... Whilst you can sail from the Nav station this isnt where most short handed cruisers will be working from ... The sun shades wont cope with high winds and rough waters and do nothing for cold weather sailing. ... Im wondering why they didnt use the new recyclable resin materials they have launched on the monohulls... Perhapse they will introduce them at a later date? Some nice details and space for a 44ft.