Small-craft skipper certificate: practice test with explanations

An online trainer for the Russian small-craft skipper certificate (ГИМС). Questions follow the syllabus topics — steering and sailing rules, navigation marks and lights, safety and life-saving appliances, emergencies, boat handling, construction and stability, engine and systems, documents and liability. Every question carries an explanation of why that answer follows. There is a timed paper with a mistake limit and a study-by-topic mode. The questions themselves are in Russian, because the examination is.

How to revise

Sit a paper

Pick the topics and the number of questions. Answer with the mouse or with keys 1–4.

Read the explanation

It appears as soon as you answer — including when you were right, because a right answer by luck is not knowledge.

Work on the mistakes

After the paper you can see which topics let you down, and one button takes you to that whole topic.

Work through questions by topic and read why each answer is the right one

Two different things live here, and they should not be confused. The "Official list" tab is the primary source: the questions and correct answers published by EMERCOM of Russia (1,221 questions, split by vessel type and navigation area exactly as order No. 90 prescribes). The "Exam" and "Review by topic" tabs run on OUR OWN bank: the questions follow the syllabus topics, each carries an explanation, and they are not official exam tickets. Check the current list on the EMERCOM site before the exam.

You get a minute per question. The explanation appears as soon as you answer — including when you were right: a right answer by luck is indistinguishable from a right answer by knowledge.

A revision trainer, not official examination material and not a substitute for reading the regulations. The official question list is approved by the Ministry of Emergency Situations; the steering and sailing rules are in the COLREGs and the inland rules in their own instrument. The practical part of the certification is not replaced by any trainer.

Features

An explanation under every question, not just right/wrong

A trainer that only marks you teaches you to memorise which option was correct. Here every question says which rule the answer comes from and what happens if you do the opposite — which is what works on the water, not only in the exam room.

The paper is drawn evenly across topics

A random draw from one long list regularly produces a paper from a single topic, which tests neither knowledge nor gaps. Here questions are taken evenly from the topics you pick, and the option order is reshuffled so the right answer is never simply the first one.

Questions you got wrong come back

The tool remembers what you missed and brings those questions forward in the next paper. Without that, each run rehearses what you already know and the gaps stay exactly where they were.

Mistakes are grouped by topic

After the paper the mistakes are collected by topic with a count for each, and one button takes you from any topic straight into its study section. The list of what to revise assembles itself instead of being inferred from a scattering of red marks.

A timed paper with a mistake limit

Ten to forty questions, a minute each, and a pass threshold on mistakes. You pass only by answering everything: an unanswered question counts as a mistake, exactly as at the real examination.

Everything runs in the browser

The paper, the explanations and the memory of your weak spots all live inside the page: progress is kept in this browser on this device, with no account and nothing to install.

What you can do

Sit a timed paper with a mistake limit
Revise one topic at a time instead of everything at once
Read the explanation behind every question
See which topics your gaps are in
Meet the questions you failed again in the next paper
Read a whole topic through with answers, without an exam

Why the explanation matters more than the questions

You can pass an examination by learning that in the head-on question the answer is the first one. That does not help on the water: out there are no numbers and no options, only an approaching light and a few seconds to decide. The gap between knowing the answer and understanding the rule shows up precisely when there is no time to recall anything. So every question here ends not in a mark but in an explanation: which rule the answer follows from, which mnemonic holds it, and what happens if you do the opposite. That is what stays with you after the exam — the option numbers are gone by next week.

Frequently asked questions

Are these the official ГИМС questions?

No, and the page says so plainly. The official list is approved by the Ministry of Emergency Situations and it is not here. These questions are written to the syllabus topics and each carries an explanation, which is exactly what the official papers do not have. Revising with this is useful, but check the current official list before the examination.

Why are the questions in Russian on the English page?

Because the examination is held in Russian, and a translated question would teach you wording you will never see. The interface is in English so you can find your way about; the questions and the explanations stay in the language of the exam.

Is this trainer enough to pass?

As your only source, no. It checks understanding and finds gaps, but it replaces neither the official question list nor the underlying documents: the COLREGs, the inland waterway rules and the requirements for small craft. It certainly does not replace the practical part of the certification.

Why is the explanation shown when I answer correctly?

Because a right answer by luck is indistinguishable from a right answer by knowledge. The explanation shows whether you had the right reason in mind, and often it turns out the answer was guessed while the rule was understood differently.

How is the paper made up?

Questions are taken evenly from the topics you selected, and within a topic the ones you have already missed come first. The option order is reshuffled every time, so "the answer is the first one" cannot be memorised — only the answer itself.

Where is my progress kept?

In this browser on this device — no account is needed for it. On another device you start again, because browser storage belongs to the device it sits on.

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Who is this tool for?

⚓ Sailors and yacht crews

Published 01 Sep 2026 Updated 02 Sep 2026 Author: The Supreme