Forum -
December 16, 2021
Test onboard the Excess 11
Hi everyone
As we are getting ready to take ownership of our Excess 11 and sail her from France to Tahiti, I wanted to ask the community if there are specific things you'd like us to test while at sea. We will be happy to do it and report the results. I will post the link to our satellite tracker early January. We plan to leave France mid January.
David
15
comments
I have now sailed for 700 miles on our Excess 11 Te Ava and I start to have a good feeling for the pros and cons of the helm positions. My expectations were that it would be nice to stir the Excess but I have been very very well surprised. It feels almost like a racing boat. When sailing upwind I don't sit on the seats but stand up on the side with my back against the side of the boat and my upper leg against the seat, and it feels exactly like steering a performance monohull and close to a sport catamaran. The other good thing is that you can move very quickly from one side to the other and with the Raymarine Upgrade option you have all the info and the auto pilot on both sides so you always control your boat and know what's happening, on top of seeing the sails from different angles. Also you see both bows quite well (despite the fact that I am very short at 1,63 m) so you know how your boat reacts with the waves, exactly like on a sport catamaran. The one negative thing which I discovered too late s that you should roll up the sides of the cockpit tent before doing marina maneuvers. They are transparent so you see through them but because they are in plastic they are not 100% straight so your vision is slightly distorted and it makes it harder to see how far your opposite bow is from the dock. Anyway as soon as we get a bit more south and the temperature increase we will roll them up all the times so it should not be a problem. Our next leg is from Cascais to Canary and we should have stronger wind and bigger waves so it will be a test to know wether the helm seats are protected enough. My thinking (having already sailed half way around the world on another cat and crossed a couple of oceans on monohulls) is that in bad weather you let the autopilot do the job and only get out of the cockpit (or dodger on a monohull) to maneuver. I tend to think that if you don't like getting wet you should not do sailing but of course there are various levels of getting wet... we will see!
And great to see your You Tube video report from your sailing the Excess 11 accross the Bay of Biscay,.
A practical demonstration on this visibility matter!
To other Excess Lab members, check out David's video: https://youtu.be/yuM5b66u5so
We are currently working with our architect, VPLP Design, on a new version of the performance analysis of our boats.
This VPP, based on the latest tools developed for offshore racing boats, should give much better accuracy and enhanced polars for the Excess range.
I have recently received a first set of calculations for the Excess 11, and I would be very interested into comparing those theoretical data in real life sailing.
I guess you have some routing software on-board for your trip. Would you agree to use those latest polars, and give me some feedback?
What I would need from you is:
- General feeling about the polar : optimistic/attainable/pessimistic in the various wind conditions
- If you find massive discrepancies (either beating the polar or not attaining it), I would love to have some precise points of reference, for future fine-tuning of the data.
Please tell me if you would accept to be our ‘Beta-tester’ on that subject…!
Thanks a lot,
Hervé
Thanks
Tim
Congrats on your ownership and sailing project. I am also an owner of 11 since this April and have been sailing around off shore Japan for 40+ days. And, if things go well, I would like to buy 15 and do transatlantic/pacific sailing from France to Japan in 2023. My issue regarding 11 is how to manage mainsail sheet and code 0 sheet simultaneously and smoothly on the starboard side since there is only one winch and I cannot find a good place to attach one more. Maybe, a cleat or a spinlock could be attached. It would be appreciated if you share your thought. Another noncritical but painful issue is terribly rattling, creaking sound under the kitchen when pounded in the strong headwind on the rough seas like 25-35 knots. If you have the same problem and find the cause, please let us know. Safe sailing! Looking forward to your sailing report.
Hiroshi
p.s. Sunroof cloth is not robust enough. Sooner or later you will see torn holes.
Thanks very much for your inputs. Can you tell us what do you think of the helm position? A lot of people are speaking strongly against putting the helm at the back of a catamaran. How is it in really bad weather? I have visited one and found that there is little storage space in the kitchen furniture. What is your opinion on that?
Best regards,
NTS
Pros:
Connection: You can be always connected with your friends. While you are helming, others are trolling, cooking, eating, drinking, taking a nap.........Always together, great oneness.
Direct handling. Not as good as a mono or a trimaran, though.
Double helming: You can switch helming to your partners instantly or you can go to the other side in 3 seconds. Extremely easy to move around and move in/out.
Easier docking. This is also a con sometimes.
Lower center of gravity: Less pitching and rolling physically than a flybridge boat because of a lower/back position. Better ride comfort. You are not shaken as much as a FB. Should have higher performance and better stability than a FB.
Easier access to a boom and mainsail. Main can be larger than a FB, as well.
Security. You have a risk to slip or fall off stairs on a FB on rough seas.
Safety. You cannot miss MOB.
Cons:
Water: You get wet somewhat on rough seas. Splash from a bow and a transom, even if enclosures are set, and when moving to/from a cockpit on rough seas and/or when raining. You may enjoy it.
Wind: You are not perfectly protected from wind. You get cold to some extent.
Visibility. You cannot have 360 degree view. Less open feeling than a FB boat and stress when rotating a boat in very tight space by throttle control.
Enclosures: Difficult to attach and detach enclosure at helm seats quickly, which cannot be rolled up.
Right. Storage space in the kitchen is minimal, but you can put some plastic cases/boxes in a saloon and there is some OK space under sofas and in cabins. I brought a big Igloo ice box under a table on the cockpit. That can be seats perfectly fitted size-wise as well as good storage.
Hope my answers help you folks. Ask anything. I have so far spent nearly 70 days on the boat because I often even stay over alone on the boat at a berth and work on Zoom. My family think I am weird, though.
Hiroshi
It is Thibaut here, from the Excess Team.
I read your comment about handling the Code 0 sheet together with the mainsai sheet on starboard . I just sent a picture to Tetsuo Sekigushi, in Japan, our Excess Distributor so he can suggest to you a set-up, using a spinlock cleat and a block, to handle both sheets on the same tack.
I asked M. Sekigushi to share this information with you as this should help with your question.
All the best!
Thibaut
Many thanks. Will check it out.
Best,
Hiroshi
Noise under the kitchen in rough seas: that s the case on all catamarans. I sailed from France to Tahiti on a Catana 7 years ago and we had it as well. I actually think the "seagull wing"design of the bottom will make it less strong than on the flat bottom of the Catana...I will know more in a few weeks.
Icebox : we did not get the freezer to have more storage in the galley and I am planning to install an electric ice box under the desk in the owner's hull.
I hope to meet you on the water when you'll sail from France to Japan. If you need anything while in the South Pacific let us know, we will be happy to help. As for sleeping on the boat I think you are perfectly normal but I understand that your family thinks differently :-)
p.s. That said, I am very interested in the electric propulsion. I might hold my purchase order of 15 until the system is commercially available. In 2024/25?
Hiroshi
Having watched your transatlantic sailing video on YouTube, I will copy your Code 0 solution with a spinlock and a block. That is an absolutely clever solution. Thanks.
Hiroshi