Good Boat Shoes Offer Traction and Comfort for Long Days on Deck

If you ask non-anglers to define a “boat shoe,” they would likely describe the traditional Top Sider—a cross between a moccasin and a loafer with leather upper and white rubber sole. These stereotypical boat shoes are often worn sockless on college campuses, for casual dining at seaside destinations, as well as on deck. They’re popular with good reason—they’re practical, comfortable, water-resistant, slip-on, stylish and superior on slick surfaces. They also have a storied maritime history.

The Sperry Top-Sider is the original boat shoe. Its inventor, Paul Sperry, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the location of Ivy League school Yale University, but also a city fronting Long Island Sound. Sperry loved to sail, and one day in the early 1930s he slipped on deck and fell off his boat.

Back then, there weren’t any good options for non-slip deck shoes. Sperry wanted to solve that problem. He worked through the winter of 1935 trying to develop a solution, but his big “a-ha!” moment came when walking his dog Prince. Sperry continually slipped on the ice, but his dog didn’t. A close inspection of Prince’s paw pads revealed the tiny lines and ridges that helped him grip slippery surfaces.

Sperry used a penknife to make parallel slashes in the sole of his prototype shoe, but eventually he developed a machine to cut zigzag patterns into the soles, and he applied to patent the design. Unknown to Sperry, however, John Sipe had developed this idea years earlier. Sipe patented the technology for auto tires in 1923. That process is still called “siping.”

All About the Grip

Siping, whether applied to tires or boat shoes, describes cutting or molding thin slices through rubber to improve traction on smooth, wet surfaces. Rugged, lugged soles are disadvantageous—and even dangerous—on a wet, pitching deck. That’s because manufacturers must exclude large amounts of stiff rubber to create lugs on hiking shoes, and the aggressive pattern means there’s less rubber to contact a smooth deck. Siping removes a minimum amount of a sole’s surface while creating suction-like grip from toe to heel and works best in conjunction with pliable rubber.

“The single most important feature of a boat shoe,” says Capt. Chris Elser (ct-fishing.com), who has over 40 years chartering experience in choppy Northeast waters, “is superior traction on wet and dry surfaces. The soles must also be non-marking, flexible and provide good cushioning.”