Evert Bastet

Born in Venezuela, Evert Bastet moved to Quebec in 1955 and took up sailing at the age of nine. His first competition came two years later and his first victory, in the Flying Dutchman class at the Canadian Junior Championships, arrived in 1965. Three years later he was an alternate on Canada’s team at the 1968 Summer Olympics, although he did not take part in Roger and Stewart Green’s seventh-place finish.

He did compete at the next two editions, however, finishing 15th and 4th with Don Andrews and Peter Byrne, and Hans Fogh respectively. He also won the 1976 European Championships with Fogh, in addition to bronze at the 1974 World Championships. After winning the 1980 World Championships alongside Terry McLaughlin, he was selected for that year’s Summer Olympics, which Canada boycotted, and then won a silver medal at the 1984 Games with McLaughlin. The duo also came in third at the 1982 World Championships.

Bastet was named to two more Canadian Olympic teams, but did not compete in Frank McLaughlin and John Millen’s bronze medal-winning effort in 1988 or their ninth-place finish in 1992. He eventually retired to concentrate on his work with E. B. Spars, the company that he founded in 1976, in addition to officiating, coaching, and managing national teams. He has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic (1994), Quebec Sports (2006), and Quebec Sailing (2010) Halls of Fame and also helped carry the Olympic torch on its way to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The Quebec Sailing Federation’s Evert Bastet Trophy, given annually to an exceptional sailor from the province, is named in his honor.