Knowing the correct amount to turn the wheel to correct a deviation of the perceived direction from the desired direction depends on one's previous experience turning the wheel, the evidence of how the car reacts to turning the wheel a given amount.

That isn't the case with the control systems in the OP. A thermostat doesn't know how long it will need to stay on to reach the desired temperature from the current temperature. Even its designers didn't necessarily know that. It just

(1) turns on;

(2) checks the temperature

(3) stays on if still hasn't reached desired temperature; else turns off.

Moreover, it doesn't even learn from this experience. The next time it finds itself with exactly the same disparity between current and desired temperature, it will go through exactly the same procedure, without benefiting from its previous experience at all.

All that matters is that the system responds in a way that (1) approaches the desired state, and (2) won't overshoot---i.e., won't reach the desired state so quickly that the system can't turn off the response in time. These seem to be what were missing with your sailing students.

Edited to correct format