From Mathoura, and with ties to the Deniliquin Boat Club, 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.
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.”
Second in the Unlimited Inboard Naturally Aspirated Expert Echuca Perfomance category was team Illusion - Stuart Clough, Daryl Farley, Robert Lee and Rick Kirkman - with a time of 0:39:07.
Third was Viper Racing - Emma Henderson, Bernadette Carne, Sarah Moore and Corrine Donald - in 0:46:50.
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 changes 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, who were unable to finish at the Robinvale ski race two weeks ago.
And after being a non-starter at Mildura last year, Kane hopes they can maintain the momentum from the Southern 80 as the season progresses.
“At Robinvale we had a stop on course, which means we started but could not finish,” he said.
“I took a bit of a tumble. I am still a bit sore, but I’ll manage for the next few races.
“The next race is Mildura at Easter with the same team.
“We hope to make the start line this year after boat troubles saw us pull out last year.
“We hope to get up and finish without a problem, and hopefully do well.
“Mildura is the only record we don’t have.”
Also coming up for the twins after Mildura, but with a different race team, is the South Australian Titles and the Barry Carne Interstate Challenge in Wagga Wagga.
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.
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