C&C 27 – Guide to Points of Difference

The Mark V shown on this page is markedly different from the preceding C&C 27 Marks and indeed from any other C&C. Like most car companies, C&C believed in the importance of a top-notch entry-level product as a key to future customer loyalty. When the original 27 became too expensive to build profitably, the company devoted significant resources to developing a replacement. The design was influenced by a desire to build a boat that would win races "out of the box" at a time when the day of the racer-cruiser – a form on which C&C had built its reputation – appeared to be over.

The Mark V includes a number of features intended to lower the cost of production, enabling C&C to sell a well priced boat that sailed well and was easy to look after, yet still gave owners the sense of quality, fit and finish for which C&C was known. Features include:

• an outboard rudder, which is simpler to make and install;
• an outboard toe-rail, which does not require a team to install and service;
• simplified interior with significantly less furniture and fewer complex joints;
• moulded galley, a complete installation in one moulding.

The boat is lighter overall, reflecting C&C's understanding of how overbuilt earlier boats had been (Shark owners joke that there's enough resin and glass in their 24-ft. boats to build a C&C 34, not itself a particularly light boat), and the "virtuous circle" in performance, materials and cost of labour that could be initiated by keeping the weight out.

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