About boatrules.com

A free, visual-first companion for anyone studying for a boating or yachting license — and for anyone who just needs to check a rule, fast.

The pledge

boatrules.com is free forever. No tracking, no accounts, no paywalled features. Your progress is stored only on your own device. If boatrules.com ever needs funding, its sources may include optional instructor tools, donations, or other clearly disclosed support. Free materials will not become paid, and personal data will not be sold.

What boatrules.com is (and isn’t)

boatrules.com teaches the shared visual core of boating exams worldwide: navigation lights and day shapes, sound signals, the rules of the road, IALA buoyage, chart symbols, and sailing theory. It is a study companion, not a certification course — use it alongside whatever course your country or school requires. It is a learning aid, not a navigation tool.

boatrules.com is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, approved, or endorsed by the RYA, ASA, NASBLA, US Coast Guard, IMO, IALA, or any licensing authority. Syllabus references are descriptive only.

Sources

Rule text is reproduced verbatim from the USCG Navigation Rules (International & Inland), a public-domain US government work. Each page cites its rule number.
Chart symbol references follow NOAA U.S. Chart No. 1 (public domain). Symbol artwork is redrawn by us.
IALA buoyage colors, shapes, topmarks, and rhythms are standardized facts; all buoy artwork and animations are our own.
All quiz questions and explanations are original.

Spotted an error? Accuracy matters more here than anywhere — please report it and it will be fixed and noted.

Accessibility

boatrules.com aims for WCAG 2.2 AA. Concretely: color is never the only signal — light colors are paired with text labels, arc diagrams, and position logic (about 1 in 12 male boaters has some color-vision deficiency, and most recreational licenses don’t test for it); 3D scenes offer named viewpoints operable by keyboard, with text descriptions of what is visible; sound-signal questions are fully answerable from the visual notation; animations respect reduced-motion preferences and stay under flash thresholds, with pause controls. If something is hard to use with your setup, please report it — that is a bug.