The Ideal 18: Keep It Simple Sailor

This week's selection from our newly launched vintage insignia collection is the one-design keelboat known as the Ideal 18.

The Ideal 18 was conceived by famous sail boat designer Bruce Kirby, who became a nautical household name when he introduced the Laser dinghy more than four decades ago. In 1988 Bruce was commissioned by Frank and Skip Shumway, of Shumway Marine, to design the Ideal 18. The boat was designed as a strict one-design with emphasis on simplicity, or the KISS acronym (Keep it Simple Sailor). The boat fits four comfortably for an afternoon of day sailing, but it can also be raced competitively by one or two sailors. It was also important to Bruce and the Shumways that the design of the boat allowed sailors of all ages, weights and skill levels to race competitively with one another. The "non-tweaking" philosophy behind one-design racing places emphasis on strategy and tactical skills, rather than the tuning of the boat or special rigging.

Similar to the beliefs of Bruce Kirby and the Shumway brothers, when it comes to the Sea Bags Vintage Insignia Collection - tweaking is not an option. The markings seen on our vintage sail bags are exactly as they appeared when navigating the seas. Each vintage sail bag that we craft preserves the history of the boat the sail came from and the memories of those who sailed it.

We know why our Vintage Collection is important to us...what makes it important to you?