SKIPPERIUMSINCE 2012

Skipper exam practice questions with answers

Sample questions from the Skipperium trainer — rules of the road, buoyage, seamanship and VHF radio — each with the correct answer and a short explanation.

In short
  • Skipper theory exams test the collision regulations (lights, shapes, sound signals, right of way), buoyage, chartwork and tides, weather, safety and emergencies, the engine and seamanship.
  • The VHF / SRC exam tests radio procedures — Mayday, PAN PAN, Sécurité — DSC, channels, GMDSS and the phonetic alphabet.
  • Practise until you can explain each answer, not just recognise it.
Start the course

What a skipper's theory exam covers

Names and formats differ between countries and schools, but the subjects are the same everywhere, because they come from the same international rules:

SubjectTypical questions
Rules of the road (COLREGs)Who gives way, lights and day shapes, sound signals, narrow channels and traffic separation schemes
BuoyageLateral and cardinal marks, isolated danger, safe water and special marks, light characteristics
NavigationCharts and symbols, position, course and bearing, compass variation and deviation, dead reckoning, tides and tidal streams
WeatherForecasts, pressure systems and fronts, the Beaufort scale, fog, sea breezes
Safety and emergenciesLifejackets and harnesses, man overboard, fire, flooding, the liferaft, distress signals
SeamanshipParts of the yacht, sails and points of sail, knots, berthing, anchoring, the engine
VHF radio (separate certificate)Mayday, PAN PAN, Sécurité, DSC, channels, GMDSS, EPIRB, the phonetic alphabet

A practical exam on the water — boat handling, berthing, man overboard, a short passage as skipper — usually comes on top of the theory.

Sample questions

Choose your answer, then open the explanation. The questions are written for Skipperium; they are not official exam papers.

Sailing, seamanship and the rules

1. The skipper orders: “Fenders to port!” Which side do you hang the fenders on?

  1. On the starboard side
  2. On the bow
  3. On the stern
  4. On the port side
Show the answer

Correct answer: D — On the port side

Port is the left side (NL bakboord), starboard the right (NL stuurboord). Mnemonic: port and left both have four letters.

2. What is the no-go zone?

  1. The sector ±40° from the wind: the sails flap
  2. A traffic lane where yachts are not allowed
  3. The sector astern where the lights cannot be seen
  4. An area off a headland dangerous because of overfalls
Show the answer

Correct answer: A — The sector ±40° from the wind: the sails flap

The no-go zone: closer than about 40° to the wind the sails flap and the yacht loses way (in irons; NL in de wind). To reach a point upwind you beat.

3. The wind blows onto the starboard side, the boom is out over the port side. Which tack is the yacht on?

  1. Port tack
  2. Starboard tack
  3. You cannot tell without seeing the jib
  4. There is no tack on this course
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — Starboard tack

The tack is named after the side the wind blows onto (in the COLREGs — the side opposite the mainsail): wind from the right — starboard tack.

4. Two sailing yachts are converging: one has the wind on her port side, the other on her starboard side. Who gives way?

  1. The one with the wind on her port side
  2. The one with the wind on her starboard side
  3. The bigger and faster one
  4. The one sailing closer to the wind
Show the answer

Correct answer: A — The one with the wind on her port side

Rule 12: port tack (wind on the port side) gives way to starboard tack.

5. You are under power. Another power-driven vessel is on your starboard side, courses crossing. What do you do?

  1. Hold my course: she must give way to me
  2. Give way: to starboard and astern of her
  3. To port and across her bow
  4. Give five short blasts and wait
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — Give way: to starboard and astern of her

Rule 15: in a crossing situation the vessel which has the other on her starboard side gives way. Act early and substantially, usually to starboard, passing astern.

6. When is a vessel considered to be overtaking?

  1. She is faster than the other, on the same course alongside
  2. She comes up from a direction more than 22.5° abaft the beam of the other vessel
  3. She is on the same course and tack
  4. She can see both sidelights of the other
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — She comes up from a direction more than 22.5° abaft the beam of the other vessel

An overtaking vessel comes up from astern — more than 22.5° abaft the beam, within the sector of the sternlight (135°). At night she sees only the sternlight of the vessel being overtaken.

7. IALA region A. You are entering a harbour from seaward. On which side must the red marks be?

  1. To starboard
  2. To port
  3. Either — by the chart
  4. Red marks are passed on both sides
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — To port

In region A (Europe), entering from seaward, the red marks (port-hand marks) are to port, the green to starboard. Like the sidelights: port — red.

8. The light Q(6) + LFl 15s. What mark is it and where is the safe water?

  1. East: to the east
  2. South: to the south
  3. West: to the west
  4. Isolated danger: all round
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — South: to the south

Six flashes and a long one — south cardinal (6 o'clock on the clock face). The long flash keeps six flashes from being confused with three or nine. Pass to the south.

VHF radio

9. What is GMDSS sea area A1?

  1. The range of a VHF coast station with DSC, about 20–30 NM
  2. The range of an MF coast station with DSC, about 100–150 NM
  3. The coverage of satellite communication beyond A1 and A2
  4. The polar regions beyond satellite coverage
Show the answer

Correct answer: A — The range of a VHF coast station with DSC, about 20–30 NM

A1 is the range of a VHF coast station with DSC (≈ 20–30 NM): the main communication here is VHF + DSC. Areas A1–A4 are defined in SOLAS, each with its own equipment.

10. Which channel is for distress, safety and calling by voice?

  1. 16
  2. 70
  3. 13
  4. 72
Show the answer

Correct answer: A — 16

Channel 16 — distress, safety & calling: distress, urgency, safety and calling by voice. Under way the radio always listens on 16 — the listening watch (NL uitluisteren).

11. What is channel 70 for?

  1. For voice conversations between yachts
  2. Only for DSC digital calls
  3. For communication with port services
  4. For calls ashore in duplex
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — Only for DSC digital calls

Channel 70 — DSC only: digital calls only, including the DSC distress alert. No voice on 70.

12. The engine has failed, the yacht is drifting slowly, there is no danger to life. Which priority signal?

  1. MAYDAY
  2. PAN PAN
  3. SÉCURITÉ
  4. MAYDAY RELAY
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — PAN PAN

PAN PAN — urgency (NL spoed): help is needed, but there is no immediate danger to life. Examples: engine failure, aground, a doctor needed.

13. On which frequency does an EPIRB send its distress alert to the Cospas-Sarsat satellites?

  1. 121.5 MHz
  2. 518 kHz
  3. 406 MHz
  4. 161.800 MHz
Show the answer

Correct answer: C — 406 MHz

An EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon, NL noodbaken) sends on 406 MHz a distress alert, the beacon's number (linked to the vessel and the MMSI) and the position.

14. How do you spell the yacht's name “JADE”?

  1. Jack Alfa Delta Echo
  2. Juliett Alfa Delta Echo
  3. Juliett Able Dog Easy
  4. Japan Amsterdam Denmark England
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — Juliett Alfa Delta Echo

The ITU phonetic alphabet: J — Juliett, A — Alfa, D — Delta, E — Echo. The call sign is always spelled; the name — if it is hard to make out.

15. You see red flares from a yacht that does not transmit herself. How do you begin the call on channel 16?

  1. MAYDAY ×3
  2. MAYDAY RELAY ×3
  3. PAN PAN ×3
  4. SÉCURITÉ ×3
Show the answer

Correct answer: B — MAYDAY RELAY ×3

Mayday relay — a relayed distress call: sent by a station that is not in distress itself, when the vessel in distress cannot send the alert herself. A plain MAYDAY would mean that you are in distress.

How to prepare

  1. Learn by topic. Go through one subject at a time; read the explanation even when you were right.
  2. Draw it. Lights, shapes and buoys stick when you sketch them: which lights does a vessel at anchor show, which way do the cones of a west cardinal point?
  3. Say the radio calls out loud. The Mayday sequence must come without thinking.
  4. Take mock exams. In the trainer: 12 questions in 48 minutes for sailing, 8 in 30 for radio — then work on the topics you missed.
  5. Practise written answers. Some exams ask you to explain a procedure in your own words; the trainer has model answers to compare with.
  6. Connect it to the water. On every sail, name the marks and the lights you see.

The Skipperium question bank

Frequently asked questions

Are these the official exam questions?

No. They are practice questions written for Skipperium on the same subjects. Official exam papers are not published here.

Where can I find skipper exam questions with answers?

On this page — and 456 more in the Skipperium trainer, with explanations and a timed mock exam. Official question catalogues exist only for some national licences; ask the authority or the school that runs your exam.

How many questions does a skipper theory exam have?

It depends on the country and the school: some exams are multiple choice, others are written or oral. The Skipperium mock exam uses 12 questions in 48 minutes, which is good practice for any format.

What is on the VHF / SRC exam?

Usually a theory part — procedures, DSC, channels, GMDSS, EPIRB — and a practical part in which you send a Mayday, a PAN PAN or a Sécurité call and spell names and positions with the phonetic alphabet.

Which topics do candidates get wrong most often?

Lights of vessels at night (especially fishing, towing and restricted vessels), cardinal marks and their light rhythms, the exact order of a Mayday message, and who gives way when a sailing yacht is under engine.

Can I practise in my own language?

Yes — the trainer works in English, Russian, German, French, Italian and Spanish, and shows the English radio phrases and terms alongside.

Updated:

Download the app — and use it offline

The course, the encyclopedia, the lights and buoyage reference and the on-board tools — man overboard, the Mayday helper, anchor watch, passage planning — keep working without a connection. Install the app from the browser today; the App Store and Google Play versions are coming.

Coming soonApp StoreComing soonGoogle Play
Start the course

Under 2 MB on your phone · no ads · no account · your progress stays on your device

More guides

How to become a yacht skipperThe steps from crew to skipper, what to learn and which certificate you need.Sailing licences and certificates comparedThe main training systems and national licences side by side, and where each is recognised.VHF radio licence (SRC): procedures, channels and exam practiceThe SRC licence, Mayday, PAN PAN and Sécurité word for word, DSC, channels and the phonetic alphabet.COLREGs for sailors: rules of the road, lights, shapes and a testRight of way, lights at night, day shapes and sound signals — with drawings and a test.The IALA buoyage system explained: buoys, beacons and their lightsLateral, cardinal and other marks with their colours, topmarks and lights; regions A and B; a test.Sailing terms: the nautical glossary with translations365 nautical terms with definitions and equivalents in seven languages.