Working in partnership with some of the world’s best sailors – the Defending America’s Cup champions ORACLE TEAM USA – our team set out to design the next generation of boat shoes.
Very early on in this partnership, it was clear to our Product Team that athletes on today’s America’s Cup teams were wearing footwear that was ill-suited for their needs on the water.
In the early days of the sport, sailors captained traditional yachts and wore Paul Sperry’s iconic Authentic Original boat shoe to get a grip on the deck. Boats had wooden decks and simple sail rigs with fiberglass and wood-based bodies. We quickly learned, however, that in the many decades since America first sailed in her maiden voyage, America’s Cup racing has changed dramatically.
Today, an America’s Cup class racing yacht is made almost entirely from carbon fiber and features hydrofoils that lift the boat above the water, sending sailors at speeds of up to 50 knots. Boats crash through the waves as sailors tack and jibe, all while the athletes run across a trampoline-like net.
Noting that America’s Cup sailing had come a long way over the years, our Product Team was tasked with the ultimate challenge: to produce a boat shoe that could keep up with the speeds of today’s America’s Cup boat; to create a purpose-built boat shoe that was Born from the Sea and Built for the World, just like Paul Sperry’s classic A/O.
And so, the SPERRY 7 SEAS collection was born.
Featuring an Omnivent outsole with drainage to let water flow out on the deck, fast-drying hydrophobic mesh and Hydropel technology, traction pods with wave siping, and a 360° Lacing System that is reminiscent of Paul Sperry’s classic A/O Boat Shoe, the new SPERRY 7 SEAS has everything you need for your next Odyssey on the open sea.
Watch the video below to get a quick look at some of the technology we’ve added to the shoe.
