The MIT Sailing System
summary
A collegiate sailing team applies a learning-based management system: they install tape marks on control lines so pull commands are unambiguous, adopt pull/stop as universal commands, split the crew into bow and stern cells, and add closed‑loop feedback by measuring boat speed. Maneuvers drop from two minutes to 20 seconds, a botched predeployment teaches “stop and fix” midrace, and the system scales across boats and crews to win the Rolex regatta three years running and accumulate trophies thereafter.
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chapters (7)
- 0:00Introduction to the team
- 1:34Understanding sailing
- 3:43First year challenges
- 7:00Iterative improvements
- 8:56Refining team dynamics
- 11:57Operational success
- 14:00System sustainability
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