About StandOn
Built by a sailor, for sailors who want to know their stuff.
StandOn started with a very simple problem: the revision tools I needed were never with me when I actually had time to use them.
What began as a tool I built for myself while studying for Yachtmaster Offshore became something I realised could help thousands of other sailors learn, practise and retain essential knowledge.
It started with a forgotten set of flashcards.
I was studying for my Yachtmaster Offshore theory and, like a lot of sailors, I had a set of physical flashcards that I used to practise lights, shapes, signals and other areas of the COLREGs.
Then I travelled down to a marina for a prep week and realised I had forgotten them.
I needed to revise. I wanted to practise. But the cards I relied on were sitting somewhere else.
It wasn't the first time either. Over the years I had bought more than one set of cards after losing or damaging them, and because I travelled regularly for work I was forever trying to remember to pack them.
Of course, the one time you actually find yourself with half an hour to spare on a train, in an airport or sitting in a café waiting for someone, the cards are inevitably somewhere else.
My phone, on the other hand, is always with me.
That was the starting point for StandOn.
More than another sailing quiz.
When I went looking for an alternative, I found apps that could quiz me and traditional revision aids that could help me study.
What I couldn't find was something that properly brought those two things together.
That is what StandOn is designed to do.
It is a purpose-built digital revision and learning aid that helps sailors practise, learn and retain important knowledge, supported by quizzes that reinforce what they have been studying.
The objective isn't simply to see how many questions you can get right.
It is to help the knowledge stick.
Open the app. Practise. Learn. Revise. Repeat.
Whether you have ten minutes on the bus, half an hour on a train, some time on the sofa or a quiet hour off-watch during a mile-builder, StandOn is intended to make those small opportunities useful.
Meet the founder
Mark Howes
I'm not a professional sailor or sailing instructor.
I'm a cruising sailor who loves being on the water.
For me, sailing is an unusual combination of freedom, adventure and tranquillity.
There are the quiet moments anchored in a bay, but there is also the rush of a rough sea and strong wind. There is the satisfaction of making a plan and the challenge of adapting when that plan immediately changes because the wind has shifted.
Sailing manages to be exciting and relaxing at exactly the same time.
It is something I genuinely love, and something I wish I had discovered much earlier in life.
After completing my Day Skipper course, I bought my own sailing yacht, which is now based in Italy. Since then I have spent a great deal of time sailing around the Tyrrhenian Sea and its islands, as well as sailing extensively in UK waters including the Solent and the English Channel.
In 2025, I took part in the Rolex Fastnet Race.
Today I have many thousands of nautical miles behind me and hold the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore shore-based theory qualification.
StandOn grew directly out of my own journey through that learning process.
I originally built it for myself.
As I developed it, I realised there must be thousands of other sailors facing exactly the same problem, and I decided I wanted to make it available to them too.
Built with a technology mindset.
Mark's professional career has been in technology since leaving school. He continues to work in technology sales and specialises in building high-performing, high-growth go-to-market organisations, typically at executive and board level.
StandOn combines that technology and product mindset with first-hand experience of learning to sail and progressing through formal sailing qualifications.
Built for sailors who are learning seriously.
StandOn is primarily designed for sailors studying towards qualifications including:
RYA Day Skipper
RYA Coastal Skipper
RYA Yachtmaster Coastal
RYA Yachtmaster Offshore
It is not intended to replace a sailing school, a recognised theory course, an examination provider, practical training or official source material.
Those things remain essential.
StandOn is there to sit alongside them.
It is the tool you can reach for between lessons, between study sessions and between passages to practise recall and reinforce what you have already been learning.
Our ambition is simple: to become the revision tool sailors reach for when they are serious about learning, retaining and sharpening their knowledge.
Accuracy matters.
When the subject involves navigation rules, lights, shapes and signals, getting something almost right isn't good enough.
Accuracy is one of the most important principles behind StandOn.
Before launch, our learning material and questions are being reviewed with experienced chief instructors from approved UK sailing schools.
As StandOn develops, that process will continue.
Partner sailing schools will also be able to give their instructors access to the app, helping us gather feedback from people who actively teach this material.
Users themselves will be able to flag content they believe needs clarification or correction.
We want feedback.
If something can be made clearer, more accurate or more useful, we want to know about it.
StandOn should never become a static collection of questions. It should continue to improve as sailors and instructors use it.
Working with sailing schools.
We don't just want StandOn to be something students discover independently.
Our longer-term ambition is for sailing schools themselves to be able to recommend it to their students as an additional revision tool.
A well-prepared student gets more from their training.
If StandOn can help someone arrive at a course with stronger recall, greater confidence and a better foundation of knowledge, that benefits the student and the instructor.
By working closely with schools, we also create a feedback loop that helps keep the material useful, relevant and accurate.
Interested in StandOn for your sailing school?
Register your interestWhy StandOn?
There is no substitute for experience.
There is no substitute for professional instruction.
And there is no substitute for spending time on the water.
But knowledge matters too.
The better you understand the rules, recognise what you are looking at and recall the right information when you need it, the better prepared you are to make good decisions.
StandOn exists to make practising that knowledge easier.
Not once.
Not just before an exam.
Whenever you have a few minutes available.
Because ultimately the goal isn't simply to pass a test.
It's to become a more knowledgeable, confident and capable sailor.
Say hello.
StandOn is still a young business, and I want it to remain easy for users, instructors and sailing schools to speak directly to the person behind it.
If you have a question, spot something you think we can improve, or simply want to talk about StandOn, you can contact me directly.
StandOn is a trading name of Tiberius Capital Technologies Limited. Full company and legal information can be found in our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.