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Testing navigation apps. Orca and Skippo
July 14, 2025 · 7 min · 4K views · Oslofjord
What this video covers
Thomas Nilsson compares Skippo and Orca navigation apps after dropping Navionics, having tested both extensively over a sailing season on Norwegian waters including Oslofjorden.▶ 0:00 Route creation in both apps works destination-first — more like car navigation — which creates awkward workarounds for regatta courses where start and finish share the same point; Navionics handles manual route drawing more intuitively.▶ 1:34 For auto-routing through a complex area with bridges, cable ferries, and shallow channels near his home harbor, Skippo outperformed Orca.▶ 2:46 Orca's chart display is cleaner and less cluttered, reducing the need to zoom, and its light-sector rendering is larger and more readable.▶ 3:10 Both apps correctly display the new Norwegian coastal light symbols (over 1,900 updated lights) that Navionics has failed to update after a year.▶ 4:06 Orca receives AIS data directly from the boat's antenna via an Orca Core unit connected to the NMEA network, making it more real-time than Skippo's mobile-network AIS.▶ 4:24 Orca's weather routing works well for planning but cannot adapt to live wind data from the masthead sensor while underway.▶ 6:03 Skippo's pricing requires separate purchases for Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, making full Nordic coverage approach Orca's cost.▶ 6:15 For frequent sailing across Nordic waters, Orca is Nilsson's preference; Skippo suffices for occasional sailing within Oslofjorden.▶ 6:56
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