HELM
The bridge between deckhand and officer.
The complete MCA OOW Yachts <3000gt study companion, in your pocket.
Free 7-day trial · The full COLREGs module, free forever
The oral is the gate
Walk into the exam room with no surprises.
Your sea time is done. Your written exams are passed. All that stands between you and your first officer's ticket is forty minutes across the table from an examiner. HELM makes sure that conversation holds nothing you haven't already answered — out loud, under pressure, more than once.
The tour
The whole app, end to end.
In order, as you'd actually use it: the syllabus, a lesson, the flashcards, the AI examiner mid-question, the offline bridge reference, and the readiness score counting down to your exam date. Turn the sound on — the voice putting the question is the same examiner that grades your orals in the app.
The complete ticket
Every line of the syllabus.
Sixteen modules mapped line-by-line to the MCA OOW Yachts <3000gt syllabus — from COLREGs and buoyage to stability, GMDSS and MARPOL. Nothing missing, nothing extra.
Modules
- COLREGs — Rules of the Road 82%
- Navigation & Passage Planning 64%
- Lights, Shapes & Sound Signals 71%
- Buoyage — IALA A & B 58%
- Stability & Watertight Integrity 42%
- Meteorology 49%
- Safety & SOLAS 35%
- GMDSS & Communications 28%
- Pollution Prevention & MARPOL 22%
- Bridge Watchkeeping & BRM 45%
+ 6 more modules+ 11 more modules
The AI oral examiner
Sit the oral, anytime.
Speak your answers aloud. The examiner questions like the real thing — scenario by scenario — then grades you against the standard, with commentary on every point you hit and missed.
“You lose steering approaching a busy harbour at night. Walk me through your actions.”
Examiner is listening
Lights & Shapes
Green over white at night — what is she, and what is she doing?
CARD 12 / 28TAP TO FLIP
Spaced repetition
Cards timed to memory.
Every card returns exactly when you're about to forget it. Ten minutes a day keeps the whole syllabus current — lights, signals, rules and figures — until the exam date.
On the bridge
Bridge reference, offline.
Lights & shapes, IALA buoyage, sound signals, flags, VHF channels and the Beaufort scale — a precise lookup instrument that works mid-Atlantic with no signal. Officers keep it long after the ticket.
Lights & Shapes
Power-driven vessel, < 50m — bow-on
76%
Exam ready
23 days to your oral
Readiness
Know exactly where you stand.
One readiness score, built from your mastery of every module, your retention curve and your mock-exam trend — counting down to the date you set. Weak areas surface before the examiner finds them.
Built on the standard
Mapped line-by-line to the official MCA syllabus, by the makers of The OOW Bible and The EOOW & ETO Bible.
An Azimuth Systems product
Pricing
Everything, for less than an hour with a tutor.
Free
$0forever
- The full COLREGs module
- 20 flashcards a day
- Quick Reference — lights & shapes
Premium
$4.99/ month · or $39.99 / year
7-day free trial · cancel anytime
- All 16 modules, every lesson
- The AI Oral Examiner — unlimited
- Full mock exams & readiness score
- Unlimited flashcards · full offline reference
Final price set by App Store / Google Play in your region — typical equivalent shown.
Questions
Before you ask the examiner.
What exactly is covered?
HELM covers the full MCA OOW (Yachts) <3000gt syllabus — sixteen modules from COLREGs to MARPOL — plus mock written exams, spoken oral practice and the offline bridge reference.
Does it work offline, at sea?
Lessons, flashcards, mock exams and the whole Quick Reference live on your device, so they work with no signal at all. The AI Oral Examiner is the one feature that needs a connection, since it grades your spoken answers.
How does the AI examiner work?
You speak your answers aloud, exactly as you would across the table. The examiner works scenario by scenario, presses on the points a real examiner would press on, then grades you against the standard with commentary on every point you hit and missed.
What does HELM cost?
HELM has a free tier that stays free — the full COLREGs module, twenty flashcards a day and the lights & shapes Quick Reference. Premium is $39.99 a year or $4.99 a month after a 7-day free trial, and unlocks all sixteen modules, the unlimited AI Oral Examiner, mock exams and the readiness score.
When is HELM released?
HELM is announced but not yet released. It is not on the App Store or Google Play yet; it launches on iOS and Android together, and the website shows "Coming soon" in place of store links until it does.
Is HELM affiliated with the MCA?
No. HELM is an independent study tool built by Azimuth Systems Ltd, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. It is exam preparation only and must never be used for operational navigation.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Premium runs as a normal App Store or Google Play subscription, managed from your account settings. Cancel at any point during the 7-day trial and you are not charged.