Castoldi 19

Castoldi is an Italian manufacturer headquartered in Albairate, in the Milan metropolitan area of Lombardy. The company has been developing waterjet propulsion since the early 1960s, with the first mass-produced Castoldi waterjet unit presented at the Genoa Boat Show in 1969. Today more than 40,000 Castoldi hydrojet units operate worldwide, across civilian, military, and commercial fleets.

The range we ask Castoldi for runs from compact garage-fit tenders at 4.3m right through to the flagship Jet Tender 34 at 10.5m - sixteen passengers, twin 440 hp diesels paired to twin Turbodrive waterjet units, and a certified top speed of 50 knots. Every model in between follows the same build logic: deep-V hulls hand-laid in Kevlar and vinylester resin, Castoldi's own Turbodrive waterjet drives manufactured in-house, and a package of practical details - retractable helms, self-bailing cockpits, and walkthrough deck layouts - that captains value on a working programme.

The propeller-free drivetrain is the defining feature of any Castoldi. No exposed rotating parts below the keel means safe operation around swimmers and watersport guests; zero draft restriction means beach landings and sand-bank crossings that a conventional-drive tender cannot attempt. SOLAS-certified rescue versions (JT 14 RB, JT 18 RB, JT 19 RB) sit alongside the standard tender line, so owners running a dual-purpose programme can specify a single platform. We'd put the mid-range JT 21 through JT 28 models alongside the main European jet-tender alternatives: the build quality is consistent, the proprietary waterjet technology is genuinely in-house, and the range breadth covers most mothership garage sizes without compromise.