FOR only the second time in its 45-year history the Murray River Club Marine Southern 80 will be postponed until April.The Southern 80 is one of the longest running water ski races in Australia and each year attracts hundreds of competitors and thousands of spectators.The race covers 80 kilometres of the mighty Murray from Torrumbarry to Echuca Moama and was scheduled to run from February 11 to 13.But widespread flooding has pushed the event back to April 15 to 17.Full entry fee refunds are available to competitors who are unable to make the new dates.The Moama Water Sports Club, which organises the event, called a meeting with Ski Racing Australia and a number of key stakeholders last week to assess any risks in the Campaspe, Goulburn and Murray River systems.Moama Water Sports Club president Alan McDonald said the safety of competitors and spectators was considered to be too marginal and therefore a decision was made to postpone the event.“The club has always maintained that safety is paramount and the advice was that if the event was to continue over the scheduled weekend this would be compromised,” Mr McDonald said.He said debris along the racing route had softened riverbanks and inundated public camp sites endangering spectators and competitors.The club was confident – subject to weather conditions – that the new April dates would go ahead without changes.The event was last postponed in 2002 due to an inability to obtain comprehensive public liability insurance.The 2002 Southern 80 was resheduled from the second weekend in February to April 20 and 21.The event needed $55,000 to go ahead and due to the generosity of the people of Echuca Moama, who organised fund raising events, the money for insurance was raised.