• Hydrophobic Meshes and Lining Offer Breathability and Water Compatibility
• Lightweight PU Midsole for Superior Under-Foot Comfort
• Removable Full-Length EVA Footbed with Anti-Microbial Treatment Increases Comfort and Reduces Odor
• Hydro-Grip™ Rubber Outsole Compound for Outstanding Traction
• Non-Marking Rubber Outsole with Quadro-Grip Multi-Directional Wave-Siping™ for Added Wet / Dry Traction

"Lightweight, hydrophobic materials combined with minimal outsole thickness and sticky rubber produce a highly flexible/agile shoe ideal for stability on dynamic (heeling) surfaces," says Crowley. "The shoes will work on any sailboat but were tuned for standing on a dynamic (moving) fiberglass surface. They are designed to tenaciously adhere to this surface wet or dry and, when wetted out, to dry quickly."

Sperry is always touting that its shoes are "created with the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics." I was curious what that really means, so I asked Crowley about the input he received from the Olympic sailors. "Many of their requests were included in the design brief, i.e., traction, hydrophobic materials," he says, "But it is their feedback on product and samples that really adds value to the process. Their input is weighed against saleability/cost and is almost invariably represented in retail product. Among the callouts they requested on the Ventus was the outsole design and the specific location of the drainage ports at the toe. While you want the water to exit the shoe, you also don't want it to wick up through the base, a typical problem of drains placed through the base of the forefoot or heel."