One Pit, One Family: The Venditto Racing Story

Every team has a roster. Not every team has a dinner table. When you walk through the Team Goatcher pit on race weekend, one of the first things you notice is that it does not feel like a business or a collection of individual racers who happen to share a tent. It feels like a family. And no family on the roster shows that better than the Vendittos.

Father and son Louie and Jake Venditto both race closed course jet ski under the Team Goatcher banner. Behind them is an entire household that has built its weekends, its friendships and a good part of its identity around the water. Their story is a reminder of why we say, and mean, "One team. One pit. One family."

Five days, no gear, and a Facebook post

Louie's racing life did not start with a big plan. In his own words, it started in 2018 when he replied to a Facebook post. Retro Racing was offering to sponsor the entry fees for a first-time racer, and Louie put his hand up.

What followed is the kind of start most racers would call a nightmare. He had five days to prepare. He had no ride gear. He had never practiced a band snap start, the elastic-band launch that sends a full gate of skis off the line at once. By his own account he was pretty nervous that first race.

He did well anyway. Well enough that the team told him to come back for the next race. That was all it took. Louie was hooked, and he has been racing his ski ever since. Today you will find him on Louie Venditto's profile page racing #223 in X2 Unlimited.

That story matters for a reason beyond the rider himself. It is proof of what one small act of support can do. One sponsored entry fee turned a curious first-timer into a committed racer and, eventually, into the head of a racing family. It is exactly the kind of moment Team Goatcher wants to create for the next generation, and it is one of the clearest arguments we can make for anyone thinking about how to Partner with Team Goatcher.

The next generation in the same pit

Racing did not stay a one-person hobby in the Venditto house for long. Louie's son Jake watched his dad having so much fun that he wanted to give it a try himself.

Jake, now 17, ran his first full year of closed course jet ski racing in 2025, riding a Blaster in Sport Spec. He is honest about the learning curve: it was tough. But he stuck with it and finished the season third overall in IJSBA Region 1 Sport Spec. That is a strong result for any rider and a remarkable one for a rookie season.

His experience before that first full season included a year with Best of the West / Nauti Water Racing and time in the Young Guns youth racing program across 2024 and 2025. Programs like that are the on-ramp to the sport, and Jake is a good example of how far a young rider can come when they get seat time and good people around them.

Today, Jake races #630 in Sport Spec, and you can follow him on the Jake Venditto rider page. His goal is simple, and it is the same one you hear from almost every young racer who has caught the bug: all he wants to do is get to the next race.

Training with a legend

One detail in Jake's story connects him directly to the roots of this team. During the off season, Jake has been training with his dad and with Haulin' Harry Goatcher.

Harry is the reason the team exists. A professional jet ski racer whose career began in the late 1980s, associated with L&S Engineering and the golden era of the sport, Harry returned to racing after a long absence and now leads the team's mission to support the next generation of riders. You can read more about that history on The Legacy page.

A teenage rider in his second year getting off-season coaching from a racer who was competing before he was born is exactly what Team Goatcher was built for. Experience gets handed down instead of lost. Lessons that took decades to learn get passed on in a few weekends on the water. That is how a team becomes more than a sticker on a hull.

Everybody has a job

What makes the Venditto story so typical of this team is that it is not only about the two people on skis. Louie is clear that racing has become a whole-family affair.

Jake races. Louie's daughter Maddie shoots professional photos for racers, the kind of images that end up on rider pages, social feeds and sponsor decks. His daughter Haley and his wife Corinne help in the pits, cheer the riders on, and, in Louie's words, make sure nobody starves.

Anyone who has spent a race weekend in a pit knows how much that matters. Racing is long days. Practice, motos, repairs, waiting, more motos. The people who keep the fuel cans filled, the coolers stocked, the gear dry and the spirits up are as important to a good result as anything bolted to the ski. In Louie's own summary: jet skis keep the family together.

Why this is the Team Goatcher model

When we wrote down Who is Team Goatcher?, the answer was never just the names on the roster or the numbers on the skis. It was racers, families, friends, crew, coaches and sponsors. People who compete hard, help each other, celebrate each other's wins, learn from the tough weekends, and keep showing up.

The Vendittos are that statement in real life. A dad who got a break from a sponsored entry fee. A son who followed him onto the water and podiumed his region in his first full season. A sister behind the camera. A mom and sister keeping the pit running. And a legend of the sport sharing what he knows during the off season.

It is also a big part of why the team keeps growing. Riders across very different classes, from Junior Lites to Pro GP, share one pit and one set of values. Different ages, different classes, different goals. One team. One pit. One family.

What comes next

For Louie, the plan is the same as it has been since 2018: keep racing, keep enjoying it, and keep the family on the water together. For Jake, the focus is on building on that third-place regional finish and on the progress he made over the off season.

You can keep up with the rest of the roster on The riders. The machines. page, and see upcoming races and past standings on Events & results. When the Vendittos race, results will be added there as they become official.

Want to be part of a story like this?

The best stories in this sport often start with someone saying yes. Retro Racing saying yes to a first-time racer's entry fee started a chain that now runs through two riders, a photographer and an entire pit crew. Businesses that back Team Goatcher are not just buying logo space; they are helping keep families like this on the water and helping new riders get their first start.

If that sounds like something your business wants to be part of, head to Partner with Team Goatcher. or reach out through Talk to the team. We would love to tell your story alongside ours.

Together We Win.