DINGHY GO ORCA
SPECIFICATIONS LENGTH: 3.25m BEAM: 1.5m TOTAL WEIGHT: 51kg BIGGEST BAG DIMENSIONS: 120cm x 41cm x 26cm ASSEMBLY TIME: 21min WEBSITE: www.dinghygo.com Dinghy Go has become something of a market leader in the inflatable sailing tender field. The Nomad was its first boat to come to market, now on its third iteration with tweaks to the design over the years. The Orca is a newer offering from the company and is larger than the Nomad with a more pronounced vee in the hull and a larger sail. They both come with oars that attach to either side tube via a robust plastic attachment and which stow along the side tubes.
The Dinghy Go products both felt well thought-out and clearly have benefitted from plenty of time in development to create a product that attempts to be as versatile as possible.
SETUP
The setup process for both boats is almost identical. The hulls are inflated and there is a thwart that slides along two rubber mounting points via a groove in the side of the fibreglass seat. They both have an in-built mast slot at the bow and both have a mast foot, which is added during the setup process.
Although the Orca is bigger than the Nomad and can carry an extra person – optimistically quoted as five by the manufacturer to the Nomad’s four – the additional size is all in her length with both featuring the same beam. It does also carry a significantly larger sail – 5.2m2 compared to 3.7m2. All this means that the Orca is sold as a sportier version but we suspect most will be purchasing her for the increased space, either for people or luggage. Crucially, however, both boats require the same process for setting up and both came in at 21 minutes. Again there was a representative on site, so their 21-minute setup time is an accurate reflection of time to set up on the second or third go, once you have learned the tricks.
There are a few details that need to be done in a specific order. Like the Seal, the thwart needs to be installed at mid inflation, as does the mast foot. Though the thwart can theoretically be installed while the boat is deflated, the mast foot really needs doing at the mid-point. It seems there is scope to fully inflate forgetting about this and therefore a need to deflate again to get her ready.