Bryce and Kane Horne with their father and observer Stuart Horne and Agrovation driver Chris Doonan.
Bryce and Kane Horne won the Unlimited Inboard Naturally Aspirated Expert Echuca Performance category of the Southern 80 Ski Race for the second year in a row.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
From Mathoura, the 21-year-old twins skied behind Agrovation at the weekend with their father as observer and Chris Doonan as driver.
While the conditions prevented them from besting their record breaking score from the 2022 event, Kane said they were still pretty happy with the result.
The twins finished with a time of 0:34:16, which saw them improve on their overall finishing result for the Southern 80 weekend from last year.
Thumbs up: The Agrovation crew.
They hold the record in the event after their 0:33:47 finish last year.
“The river was lower than in previous years, which made the course tighter and forced the boats to slow down so they could navigate it safely,” Kane said.
"The water conditions were not what we thought they would be either, as it was choppier than expected.
“Having boats in front of us slowed us down too, so things did not really go to plan but we were still pretty happy with the result.
“With our time, we managed to finish seventh outright for the weekend.
“Last year I think we finished 11th outright.”
Normally hosted mid-February, this year’s Southern 80 was delayed by a month because of the impacts of last year’s floods.
Kane said it changed skiing conditions slightly for all competitors, but some of them were for the better.
“Flooding, and the damage remaining from the floods, made access to the river difficult, which would have prevented emergency services had something happened,” Kane said.
“So they had to wait a little longer (to hold the event) so the forests could dry out more.
“The cooler temperature is better for the skiers, because it can get quite hot in February.
“Being a bit cooler also kept a lot of spectators out of the water, although we still had to be careful because it did get to 27ºC.”
The result in Echuca-Moama came as a relief for team Agrovation, which was unable to finish at the Robinvale ski race two weeks ago.
The Horne twins have been skiing competitively since they were nine, with the support of their parents Stuart and Melanie.
And they say they will keep skiing as long as their bodies allow.
The brothers also impart their wisdom and techniques on the next generation of skiers, as volunteers with the Deniliquin Boat Club’s Ski School.
12°C