The Laser is not built for leisurely sailing. With a sleek hull just under 14 feet long, a tall mast, simple sail, and minimal controls, this craft has one purpose: to race. The singular helmsman—almost always a “he” because of the physical demands—must scramble, in a race on high seas, from one side of the craft to the other, suspend himself outboard straight-legged against a stiff wind, and torque his body in response to every wave. Since all Lasers are structurally identical, winning or losing lies entirely in his hands.

Mark Bear—a champion helmsman and neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—says he applies the same principles to racing and research.

“You begin with probabilities. You don’t know a priori whether heading off to the left side of the racecourse or the right is the way to go. So you collect information, make observations, test hypotheses. You do a few pilot experiments, sailing upwind a little in either direction, to see what looks promising. You make a plan, and take measurements of whether or not the plan is working. If you made a wrong guess, you make on-course corrections.

“But what really separates great sailors from less great sailors,” adds the HHMI investigator, “is that they see things that other people don’t.”

Photo: Jeff Barnett-Winsby