The study system
How CaptainsGround takes you from cold to exam-ready.
CaptainsGround is built around a citation-backed corpus of federal source material and four study surfaces — lessons, drill, flashcards, and mock exams. Here’s how each piece works and how they fit together.
- 33/46 CFR + COLREGs
- FSRS-4 scheduling
- NMC-format mock
- Per-topic mastery
The five surfaces
One plan, five ways to learn the rules
Each surface feeds the next. Your weak topics flow from drills into your plan, your flashcards, and your daily review — so studying always points at what the exam tests.
Onboarding sets up your plan
Three steps: pick your target credential (OUPV Inland / Near-Coastal / Master 25/50/100), enter your exam date, set your weekly study budget. The study-plan generator sequences modules by exam frequency — Rules of the Road first, mocks last — and reserves the final week of your plan for full 70-question mock exams.
Lessons explain each topic with inline citations
Every lesson is generated against the source corpus and judged by a separate validator model. Inline citations are clickable — the popover shows the actual rule text from 33 CFR, COLREGs, or Bowditch. No mystery facts.
Drill mode hammers the topics
Three modes — daily adaptive drill, focused topic drill, and a full NMC-format mock exam. Pick the one that matches where you are in your plan.
Flashcards lock it in (FSRS-4)
200+ generated flashcards on the highest-frequency facts, scheduled by FSRS-4 — a modern spaced-repetition algorithm that adapts review intervals to your actual recall pattern. The hardest topic this week becomes the lightest by exam day.
Mastery + progress
Per-topic mastery is tracked as an exponential moving average of recent correctness. Weak topics surface to the top of your daily drill and study plan. The progress page shows a heatmap so you can see at a glance where to focus.
Drill mode — three ways to practice
Daily drill
Adaptive 10–20 questions weighted toward your weakest topics, surfaced from your mastery EMA.
Topic drill
Pick a specific topic (e.g. Rule 19 Restricted Visibility) and drill until you've cleared the question pool.
Mock exam
70 questions × 90 minutes, weighted by module to mirror the NMC OUPV format. Real countdown timer, flag-for-review, question-grid navigator.
Every answer traces back to a primary source.
Lessons and drill questions are generated against the corpus, judged by a separate validator model, and every citation is checked to resolve before it ships. No memorized answer keys — you learn the rule, not a guess.
Want to see the questions in action? Try a sample drill — no signup.
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