Dry run scheduled to start tonight |13 October 2023

Fred Ladouceur ready for his dry run tonight

Canoeing: ‘Push the Limit’ with Frederick Ladouceur

As part of his preparations for the personal challenge to paddle around Mahé in a canoe in less than a day, and targeting a national record, with a potential peek interest from the Guinness book of records, retired super yacht captain and canoeist, Frederick Ladouceur, has planned a dry run which will begin tonight at midnight.

Set for Saturday November 11, the challenge has been baptised ‘Push the Limit’.

During the dry run which will begin at midnight tonight, Ladouceur will paddle around Praslin, La Digue and Félicité islands, targeting 31,000 nautical miles which is three-quarters of the distance he will be attempting on November 11.

He will be departing the La Digue jetty and return at the starting point at 9am which is the targeted time.

Speaking to Sports NATION Ladouceur said the dry run will be to test his endurance and also to assess the teams’ organisation and operation ahead of the ‘Push the Limit’ challenge around Mahé.

“The dry run will test the stability, comfort of a long-distance trip with the new carbon fibre canoe that I have invested in, brought in from South Africa, weighing 15kg, thus making it much lighter and faster,” said Ladouceur.

In 1989, Ladouceur was among the best canoeists in Seychelles, where he was a long-distance paddler with his record of 2hours 05 minutes (2h05:00) in the Islander Race still unbroken to date.

He said he was influenced by figures such as Evans Calva and Bernard Sanders who practiced water sports and today at the age of 53, he realises that the three main components that work together are precisely age, sports and health.

Neil Sirame