How does Orca fit with my existing systems?
Most Orca owners have sensors, instruments, and even a chartplotter on their vessel. While many replace an aging or broken chartplotter, about half of Orca owners use Orca as an addition to their existing system.
Orca delivers many experiences that traditional chartplotters are incapable of delivering. Read on to learn how Orca makes the existing devices on your boat even better.
A better planning experience
Traditional chartplotters are designed to help you navigate but offer limited planning experiences. This makes a lot of sense, because few boaters plan their trips at the helm. Most planning happens on the sofa at home. At the marina before departure, or around the dinner table.
Orca is both a planning and navigation tool. It helps you understand where to go, how to get there, and what kind of experience you will have on the way. It does this by integrating anchorages, marinas, weather forecasts, and incredibly powerful automatic routing.
A Channel crossing. A local weather front builds up at three-quarters along the route. The current route proposal barely escapes this weather front and sees 7 m/s peak wind speed, but a delay of 1 hour would give 14 m/s wind speeds.
The great thing about Orca is that once you have planned your route, you can send it to your traditional chartplotter via GPX. Raymarine Axiom owners can enjoy wireless route transfer from Orca. This way, you get to enjoy the powerful planning experience in Orca, and carry those plans onto your existing chartplotter.
Navigate from anywhere on the boat
A traditional chartplotter is fixed at the helm, but a lot of boating happens away from the helm. Sailboat owners in particular have many jobs that require them to be away from the helm, from raising sails to tacking and gybing.
Orca is a wireless navigation system that runs on all your devices. It means you can adjust your autopilot course from your Apple Watch while you are preparing your sails, and huddle under the sprayhood in bad weather and still be able to keep track of AIS targets from your phone and tablet.
Upgrading your existing equipment
GPS receivers and electronic compasses are foundational to your overall navigation experience and much of your equipment on the boat.
Autopilots benefit greatly from an accurate high-update-rate GPS and compass source. Radar overlays also benefit greatly from an accurate and responsive compass, and accurate true wind data depends on precise GPS data, heel, and heading.
Orca Core connects to your existing boat equipment to read data from your sensors, but it also broadcasts the GPS, heel, and compass data from its internal sensors. This means that you can let your autopilot consume high-accuracy data, and let a traditional chartplotter with radar overlay use the Orca Core's precision heading sensor to align the radar overlay with your charts. Orca Core also produces calibrated wind and depth data, which can be shown on your existing instruments.
Adding an Orca Core to your boat not only makes the Orca experience better, it also gives every device on your boat access to better and more accurate data.
A connected experience
Orca delivers many experiences that you don't find on traditional chartplotters. Saved spots and routes synchronize automatically, charts update automatically, and software updates are installed effortlessly via the internet.
Orca can also use the internet to give you remote access to your boat's sensors. It means you can monitor your batteries from home, check the realtime wind speed at your boat, and set up a guard zone to get a notification on your phone if your boat has left the zone.
To the left: Guard Mode is triggered while on the boat. An audible alarm is active as well while the Orca app is active. To the right: Guard Mode will send a Push Notification while you are away from your boat.
A great companion to your boat's existing systems
Orca Core elevates your boating experience. It makes your Orca experience better and it makes your existing equipment on the boat even better. Orca Core integrates seamlessly with equipment from all the major electronics providers, including Raymarine, B&G, Simrad, and Garmin.
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, so you can try Orca risk-free.
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.