Competent Crew Quiz
Parts of the boat, sails, knots, points of sail, safety and customs.
Competent Crew Test
Or practise one topic:
Every Question in This Test
Parts of the boat (8)
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What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called? -
What is the part shown in red called?
Sails and ropes (8)
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What is this edge of the mainsail called? -
What is this edge of the mainsail called? -
What is this edge of the mainsail called? -
What is this corner of the mainsail called? -
What is this corner of the mainsail called? -
What is this corner of the mainsail called? -
The rope shown in red pulls the sail up the mast. What is it called? -
The rope shown in red controls how far the boom swings out. What is it called?
Directions (5)
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Looking forward, which side of the boat is shown in red? -
You spot a boat in the direction of the yellow arrow. How do you tell the skipper where it is? -
You spot a buoy in the direction of the yellow arrow. Where is it? -
A boat is coming up in the direction of the yellow arrow. Where is it? -
The wind is blowing from the left as shown. What is the side in red called?
Points of sail (7)
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The yacht is sailing as close to the wind as she can. What is this point of sail called? -
The wind is coming straight across the side of the boat. What is this point of sail called? -
The wind is coming from behind, over the back corner. What is this point of sail called? -
The wind is coming from directly behind. What is this point of sail called? -
The yacht is pointing straight into the wind and her sails are flapping. What is she? -
The yacht turns her bow through the wind, as shown. What is this called? -
The yacht turns her stern through the wind, as shown. What is this called?
Knots (7)
Safety (9)
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Someone falls overboard. What is the first thing you do? -
Where do you clip your safety harness tether when moving along the deck? -
When should you get into the liferaft? -
A pan of cooking oil catches fire. What do you use? -
There is grave and imminent danger to the boat or someone on board. What call do you make on VHF channel 16? -
What is this flare, and when do you use it? -
When is an orange smoke flare used? -
Why use a red parachute rocket? -
What is a white hand-held flare for?
Customs and weather (6)
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What is the flag flown at the stern of a yacht called? -
A British yacht in Portugal flies a small Portuguese flag under the starboard spreader. What is it called? -
You are rafted up on the outside of other boats. How do you get across to the pontoon? -
The wind is blowing at a steady 25 knots. What is that on the Beaufort scale? -
A gale warning is issued for your sea area. What wind does that mean? -
You watch a ship and her bearing stays the same while she gets closer. What does that mean?
How These Questions Are Checked
SailChecker writes every question and checks each answer against the published source for its subject before it goes live. Where a rule says "so far as practicable", the answer says so too. Chart symbols follow UKHO Chart 5011.
- International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), IMO: lights, shapes, sound signals and the steering rules.
- IALA Maritime Buoyage System: buoys, topmarks and light rhythms.
- RYA Competent Crew course: what the Competent Crew test covers.
- RYA Day Skipper theory course: what the Day Skipper test covers.
- Met Office marine forecast glossary: forecast terms, visibility and the Beaufort scale.
- MCA GMDSS procedures for small boat users: distress calls and DSC.
These are independent practice questions that follow the RYA syllabuses. They are not official RYA papers, and a score here is not a qualification.
Last checked: October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at enquire@sailchecker.com.
Christopher Lait
Chris founded Drake Academy, a sailing company that provides leadership training to businesses. Now the CEO of SailChecker.com you will find him handling many of your enquiries as he attempts to drive SailChecker.com forward as the company of choice for yacht charter and sailing by focusing on quality advice and great customer service.
Knot drawings from Wikimedia Commons: bowline by Hella, adapted by Tescobar (CC BY-SA 3.0); figure of eight, reef knot, sheet bend and rolling hitch by Lucasbosch (CC BY-SA 3.0); round turn and two half hitches by Stephan Brunker (CC BY-SA 3.0); clove hitch by Sawims (public domain). All other pictures are SailChecker's own.