The Tilman Trophy is named after the first President of the British "Barmouth to Fort William Three Peaks Yacht Race" that was founded in 1976. The exploits of Major Harold William (Bill) Tilman CBE, DSO, MC and Bar (1898-1977) inspired two medical general practitioners in Barmouth, Robert Hawarth and the late Merfyn Jones to add another dimension to their summer yacht cruise to climb the highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland. This led to the first British race in 1976. The British race committee donated a silver tray in Tilman's name to the Australian race.

The Tilman Trophy named after this famed adventurer, mountaineer, explorer and author, provides a special incentive and reward for older crews in slower yachts who do not have a realistic chance of outright honours but are prepared to do their best. To win it teams must accumulate sufficient points from their performance in sailing and running as well as earn points for being older in years. Raising funds for a recognised charity and having a monohull rather than a multihull also gained points.

"Bill Tilman was an extraordinary man. A highly decorated warrior of two world wars, he travelled tens of thousands of miles, often on foot, in some of the most remote regions of Asia, Africa and South America, and trod the summit slopes of over a hundred peaks. He and the celebrated mountaineer, Eric Shipton, pioneered large tracts of the Himalaya including key routes on Mt. Everest, scantily dressed in old wool sweaters, woollen britches, and hob-nailed boots. They did not approve of grandiose expeditions believing that an assault on a Himalayan giant could be organized on the back of an envelope. And they proved time and again that such frugal exploits could indeed be successful.

"After twenty years of mountain exploration, Tilman bought the first of three wooden pilot cutters he was to own, and set about teaching himself to sail. He then voyaged nearly every year for more than a quarter century to the frigid waters of the Antarctic and Arctic in search of new mountains to climb and places that were blank on the map."

The story of Tilman is of a truly remarkable man who sadly perished at sea in the South Atlantic aged seventy nine sailing with a young crew to climb mountains in Terra del Fuego. No trace was ever found.

The Tilman Trophy was donated by the British Three Peaks Race Committee. Points are awarded according to the following table.