C&C 27 Association – About Our Site & Forum

How many times have you flailed about for information about your C&C 27? Tried to find out how to order a replacement part, or track down the acceptable length of a spinnaker pole? Or find reasonable ways of removing paint from the bottom? Since 2000, this site has enabled C&C 27 owners to share information you need for hassle-free ownership of these boats.

The site comprises two main channels of information. Both can be searched using the Google search on the Home page; you are strongly encouraged to use this, or the search capabilities built into our Forum software (of which more a few lines down):

The 'permanent' pages – which is to say, everything save the Forum. If a topic is of enduring interest, it probably has been turned into a page or section in the main body of the site. This includes basic information about the boats in the first four sections, 'how-to' information in Black Arts and a miscellany in the following sections.
The Forum. This has been going since 2000, so it contains a tremendous amount of information and experience from other C&C 27 owners. Before you rush to post a question that has been burning your brain, please read Using the Forum, following.

Using the Forum

We want the Forum to be a durable resource, which is to say that if you have an interesting question and someone out there has a thoughtful answer, we want them on the site so that others can read it, today and for as long as this site lasts. Therefore, Rule Number One (the one and only rule on the Forum) is:

You will not ask people to send answers to your e-mail address or phone number. That's no use to the other people who use and contribute to the site, and who might someday have need of that information, so we want the question and the answer in the Forum. Therefore e-mail addresses and numbers will be promptly deleted. The only time they are acceptable is when you're trying to buy or sell a boat or gear.
The corollary to the prohibition on private answers is that you will not write to the Association with questions about your boat; you will be directed to re-read this material. Check the site (particularly Black Arts), then search the Forum, using the Search tool listed at the top of the page.
Don't be too precise when using the Forum's Search; a more general search will give a greater number of less relevant results but a higher potential for finding what you want – if it's there. For instance, searching "anchor locker" won't find "anchor well"; just search "anchor" and you'll find everything we have about anchors, anchor wells and anchoring. Search under the "Message" category for the broadest results, under "Subject" for a slightly narrower focus. Since few of us stay precisely on topic, searching "Message" will give you everything we have, at the price of having to read through a few more items that are less relevant.
Use Google. Many of the questions on the Forum ask for help in finding replacement parts; that's okay with us, but if you know what you want – a part for a pump that's no longer made, but for which you have a name, for instance – you may find what you want more quickly searching with Google. On the other hand, if you want some thoughts on whether to rebuild that pump or replace it, you'll do better in our Forum.
If none of these options does the job, then post a question in the Forum.
You'll get more and better responses if you include a concise, descriptive title. Read the Forum for inspiration. If you want to sell or buy something, your results may be improved by adding "For sale – ..." or "Wanted – ..." to your title.
For the sake of your own sanity, you should write your address (when permitted, as in selling or buying items) as "name [at] address.whatever", to reduce the harvesting of your address by spammers. True, it won't be a clickable 'mailto' link, but people who are really interested will translate it; anyone who is incapable of substituting the @ symbol should probably stick to boats that fit in his or her bathtub.

These are not rules but observing them is in your interest...

Familiarize yourself with the contents of the site, particularly Black Arts, which functions as a "how-do-I..." FAQ. If you have a specific question you need to ask, use the Search function in the Forum to see if people have already answered your questions. There are many long, thoughtful answers in our Forum, ready for you to read at your convenience; don't expect people to repeat themselves for you. Moreover, if the Forum is dominated by discussions of traveller replacement for two weeks, then you roll in a week later and post a new query about choosing a traveller, you're going to have a hard time regaining a reputation for intelligent participation.

You can read the Forum as a guest, but registering has been made mandatory for those who want to post because of persistent spamming. Look for the word 'Register' just under the row of boats. Submitting a profile (first and last name plus general location at a minimum) for the Forum is now mandatory as a means of separating real from spurious registrations. Location and boat information may help others answer your questions. If you have registered and signed in (it's automatic after the first time if you make it so):

you get to go back and edit your posts if you like;
you are automatically notified when someone answers your post (original post or answer);
you can add an automatic signature line with information about yourself, your boat or your club (but keep it simple – see below); and;
perhaps most importantly in terms of community we have created here, you are letting people know where you sail, so they can tailor their answers to your location;
the only downside is that you will get one (1) e-mail a year encouraging you to join the Association – we absolutely promise your info will never be sold, traded away or otherwise exposed to the view of spammers. (And let's be reasonable here – who would want the names of people who own 30-year-old boats? Rolex? Aston Martin? Only if your other boat is a Swan 80.)

Readable posts get read and answered. Therefore, you ought to...

Proof-read your submissions. Asking – as someone recently did – if anyone has a "used mail" to sell (in the subject line and in the text) will not advance your cause. Mis-spellings of key words, expecially in the subject line, may make it impossible for someone to locate a worthwhile discussion at a later date. One of the corollaries to our desire to create a resource of long-term value is a preference for descriptive titles on your posts; pose your question under a title that will help people know what you're talking about.
Write like an adult writing to other adults. Telegraphese, 133t and Blackberry Basic may have their uses, but we prefer that you use a keyboard that does not rely exclusively on the use of your thumbs. Posts written in all-caps may be deleted (this is not a rule, but the Admin is capricious, like one of those tropical gods who run volcanoes; if you don't know how to use a shift key, write all lower-case – it's easier to read).
Don't get cute with your posts. The people who design Wired may groove on yellow text on a lime-green background, but readability surveys say black text on a white background is readable and gets read. Isn't that what you want?
Keep your signature simple. Our Forum software understands <p>, <b> <i>, plus their respective closing tags, and font face, font size and links – that's about it.

Viewing This Site

One of the first principles of the Web is that it should not matter what sort of computer or monitor you have. So, you will not find a "Best viewed in..." statement on this site. No matter what you're using to browse this site, everything should be available to you. To achieve that, every page on this site has been subjected to the validators provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Unfortunately, the address of our Forum contains characters that generate errors, and that address appears on every page, so we can't claim this site is fully compliant. The Cascading Style Sheet (of which more below) passes, so we get to show this image on the page:

In addition to recognizing the universality intended for the Web, we recognize that not everyone has high-speed access, so images over about 26kb are always preceded by thumbnails so you can decide whether you want to look at them or not. There are no animations or movies.

The remaining issue is that you may encounter problems if your type size is extremely large. As shipped and installed, most PC browsers display type at a size used by newspapers to announce the outbreak of war – far too large for normal viewing. Large text will also do funny things to the page layouts. The embedded style sheet should reduce the defaults to something manageable, but if your type is still so large that words overflow their assigned spaces, pull down the View menu, drag to Font Size and select smaller. Reading overly large text is more tiring than reading a normal size, so you may want to keep the smaller setting as a browser property.

If you run into problems or see what appears to be a blunder or omission on my part, .