He never anticipated getting a win, let alone breaking a competition record.
Bryce competed with Team 26 - with Brandon Cropper driving, Danny Cropper observing and Patrick Valencour beside him on the skis.
They won in a lightning fast time of 52:52:20, beating the 2019 record of 53:09:40 by Darren Hitchcock and the team of Speedlab.
Bryce said beating a record in an outboard class is an amazing feat in itself, and said the difference between the two records is considered a “massive gap”.
“Because it is an outboard class it can be hard to get a record, because all the boats are so similar,” Bryce said.
“It just shows how consistent we were over the distance - it was through grit and determination.
“We went flat out for the entire race - about 140km per hour. For me personally it’s a little slower than I am used to, simply because of the capacity of the boat, but it was still a good run.”
Bryce had already departed Sydney for home before the final results had been released, and was a little shocked to see they had got the record.
“I thought we were off pace,” he said.
Making the record more impressive is that Bryce had never competed with Team 26 before.
“I wanted to go (to Sydney for the race) because it was the first of the season, and I thought ‘let’s just try and find a run’.
“I contacted the team because I heard they were looking for a skier.
“After I locked that in I was contacted by another team, so (my brother) Kane decided to go along as well.”
Kane’s team did not finish because of a breakdown.
The Horne twins have been ski racing for 14 years, since they were about eight years old.
As a team they hold a Southern 80 record, but Bryce said his Hawkesbury record is “up there with it” as a career highlight.
The boys have a few races coming up where they will ski together, including a point score race in Ballarat this weekend and the Beehag 100 Ski Race in Echuca in early December.
The brothers are from Mathoura, and are members of the Deniliquin Boat Club where they will assist with Ski School again this season when available.
