The five most popular uses of Orca Core
Orca Core is a smart navigation hub that connects your phone and tablet to your boat to give you a better and more reliable navigation experience. Read on to learn about the most popular experiences with the Orca Core.
1. View boat data in Orca
Most boats have sensors onboard that deliver important information, from wind instruments to depth sounders and AIS transceivers. Modern boats often have battery sensors, fuel consumption information, autopilots, and radars that make cruising easier.
Orca Core connects directly to your boat's sensor network and brings that information into Orca. It means you can view important information from your boat in the same app you already use for planning and navigation.
Orca Core broadcasts your boat data wirelessly. It means your phone, tablet, Orca Display, Apple Watch, and laptop can view and act on that information.
A minimalist instrument setup for viewing essential information along with the chart.
For you, it means you can view AIS targets when you are preparing a meal below deck, huddle up under the spray hood during rain showers, and still be able to keep track of wind data.
2. Control autopilot
Autopilots are incredibly helpful tools on board, in particular on longer passages.
Orca integrates deeply with your existing autopilot. When you connect a Core to your boat, you can change modes, engage and disengage, and even make your boat follow a route you make in Orca. Orca is wireless, which now means you will have a wireless autopilot control.
Orca for Apple Watch lets you control your autopilot and view instrument data.
Preparing sails on the front deck and need to head into the wind? Use your Apple Watch to adjust the wind angle. Huddled up under the spray hood during a rain shower and need to make a course adjustment to steer away from a passing boat? Change course from your phone.
Orca can even initiate automatic tacks, making shorthanded and solo sailing a lot easier.
Automatic tacking and gybing can be initiated from Orca on compatible autopilots.
Wireless autopilot control from all your devices makes boating a whole lot more convenient and fun.
3. A more accurate navigation experience
When boating in challenging waters, GPS accuracy matters. Mobile phones and tablets prioritize a compact GPS receiver over signal reception. Orca Core does not make that tradeoff.
Orca Core has a built-in high-accuracy GNSS receiver. Its dual‑band GNSS receiver has a large antenna that supports every major satellite constellation. When your mobile device connects to the Core, the Core will share its location with the Orca app on your smartphone, giving you a reliable and accurate navigation experience on your phone and tablet.
The upgraded Core 2 delivers improved compass and position accuracy.
The added accuracy is incredibly useful when navigating in complex waters, or when making a harbour entry in strong sideways currents where you want accurate course-over-ground and heading information.
4. More accurate wind information
Your wind sensor delivers wind data that contains noise and systematic measurement errors due to phenomena such as upwash, heel-induced mast motion, wind shear, and more. To compensate for these issues, you need a Sailing Processor with heel compensation.
Orca Core comes with a built-in motion sensor and Sailing Processor. Orca Core’s Sailing Processor gives you more reliable wind data by correcting for heel, leeway, mast motion, upwash, and wind‑gradient effects. The result is a stable true‑wind angle and speed, which in turn gives you more accurate laylines and wind instrumentation.
Orca's polar performance instruments use this accurate wind data, helping you better understand how you sail and how you can improve your sailing.
Adding Polar Performance instruments to your sailing instrument panel helps you track and understand your sailing performance.
5. Trip logging
Orca Core automatically records your journeys in the Orca Logbook. Logbook tells you where you have been, the time you have spent on the water, alongside information such as wind, depth, fuel rates, battery charge, and more. Logbook lets you find that great anchoring spot you visited two summers ago, check the maximum wind speed after a challenging race, or simply keep a journal of your boat trips. Orca lets you do this and much more, and every trip is logged automatically.
Engine logs bring insight into your boat's fuel economy.
With Logbook, you can also revisit last summer’s adventures to remember how you entered through a narrow passage, or export a GPX for sharing the entry to that secluded beach. At year‑end, Logbook presents a personalised season review that shows how you have boated and how you compare against other Orca boaters.
Upgrade to a modern navigation experience
Orca Core brings your boat's systems into Orca, helping you access onboard data, control autopilots, get a more accurate navigation experience, and unlock advanced sailing information that help you understand how well you sail.
Orca Core delivers advanced built-in sensors and connects Orca to your onboard systems.
All Orca Cores are delivered with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and free express shipping.
Free express shipping and 30-day satisfaction guarantee included.
Customer Reviews
Orca easy to use navigation
Orca Display
DenmarkSailboat35-45 feet (10.5-13.5 meters)Short cruising trips10 connected devicesI have used Orca for 1,5 years on my 39 foot sailboat. I use it both on a display2 at the helm and the app on my phone. I Think Orca is an easy to use navigation system and I fancy the automatik route planning with weather incooperated, autopilot management where I can change course even from the foredeck and most of all through my AIS trance over I can see most board around me and even see if they are crossing before or after me and futhermore at what distance and in x minutes…. that really a nice feature. Kind regards Morten - Denmark
Using CORE2 and ORCA app.
FinlandSailboat25-35 feet (7.5-10.5 meters)Fishing +3 more11 connected devicesI have a CORE2 device on my sailboat, and I actively use the ORCA application on three tablets. The hardware works so well that I no longer need actual chartplotters. One of the best features is that my map points are synchronized between several tablets, and I can continue planning or editing map points even from home on the couch. One wish would be: I would like to use the ORCA program with a web browser. This way I could use my Linux or Windows devices. I am not an Apple fanboy, so I do not own any Apple devices. I primarily want to use free Linux operating systems, such as Debian/Ubuntu/LinuxMint, etc., and the browser versions for them are Chrome and Firefox.
Connected sailing with Orca
Orca DisplayGermany +3 moreSailboat35-45 feet (10.5-13.5 meters)Long trips +1 more12 connected devicesI used Orca now for one full season in different sailing boats to get a better sailing route and execute it.
Perfect with two tablets for helmsman and crew
Baltic SeaSailboat25-35 feet (7.5-10.5 meters)Short cruising trips12 connected devicesMy Najad 330 was built in 1995 and I bought it in April 2024. The standard network is SeatalkNG. Connected are modern Raymarine devices and a 30 year old Autohelm autopilot (Seatalk 1). I have replaced the older MFD with a 12‘ tablet (IP68) next to the instruments and an 11’ tablet (IP68, IP69K, MIL-STD-810H) directly on the steering wheel. The Orca app runs on both Android tablets. The Orca Core is mounted behind the Raymarine instruments on the companionway. The control of the old autopilot works perfectly. Overall, the system runs smoothly. The configuration of the instrument display is good. The Orca app is very clear. Of course, there are various other functions that I would like to see. However, it is impressive how quickly both the Orca app and the Orca Core are developing. In this respect, I am very confident that some of the desired functions will already be realised for the next season. But even now, the app - in combination with the Core - is by far the best navigation solution I know. Jan-Peter https://sy-jolea.de ------------------------ Meine Najad 330 ist Baujahr 1995. Ich habe sie im April 2024 gekauft. Das Standard-Netzwerk ist SeatalkNG. Angeschlossen sind moderne Raymarine-Geräte sowie ein 30 Jahre alter Autohelm Autopilot (Seatalk 1). Das ältere MFD habe ich ersetzt durch ein 12" Tablet (IP 68) neben den Instrumenten und einem 11" Tablet (IP68, IP69K, MIL-STD-810H) direkt am Steuerrad. Auf beiden Android Tablets läuft die Orca App. Der Orca Core ist hinter den Raymarine-Instrumenten am Niedergang montiert. Die Steuerung des alten Autopiloten funktioniert perfekt. Insgesamt läuft das System reibungslos. Die Konfiguration der Instrumentenanzeige ist gut. Die Orca App ist sehr übersichtlich. Selbstverständlich gibt es noch diverse weitere Funktionen, die ich mir wünsche. Es ist jedoch beeindruckend, wie schnell sich sowohl die Orca App als auch der Orca Core weiterentwickeln. Insofern bin ich sehr zuversichtlich, dass bereits zur nächsten Saison einige der gewünschten Funktionen realisiert sind. Aber bereits jetzt ist die App - in Kombination mit dem Core - mit Abstand die beste Navigationslösung die ich kenne. Jan-Peter https://sy-jolea.de ------------------------------- Jan-Peter Braun braun@jpbraun.de Germany (Lübeck Travemünde)
65’ Steel motorsailor
CanadaSailboatOver 55 feet (16.5 meters)Living aboard +2 more11 connected devicesGreat Navigation App and instrument interface.