The Three Peaks Yacht Race
Nunatak - The Tilman Trophy Winners
Rob Howard / 19.06.2013
The Three Peaks Yacht Race was inspired by the exploits and achievements of Major H. W. Tilman, one of the early Everest pioneers, who turned to sailing exploration in later life. When he was at home, he lived in Barmouth, and the race is still organised by an incredibly hard working voluntary committee from the town. As a result the Tilman Trophy, for all-round team performance (4 of the team on a summit) is regarded as being as prestigious as the winner’s trophy (which is The Daily Telegraph Cup).
So, when Nunatak were due to arrive in 3rd place, with 4th a long way behind, and 2nd and 3rd too far ahead to catch, they had a team meeting on board and decided to go for the Tilman Trophy. Their runners had completed the first two summits, and naturally wanted to do all 3, but agreed to pass on that chance and so crewmen Mike Jaques and Giles Waterhouse borrowed their packs and kit and set off up Ben Nevis instead.
Running up and down Ben Nevis from Corpach is hard enough, but to do it after sailing (and rowing) from Barmouth was quite a challenge for the two to take on, but in the spirit of Tilman they got on with it without fuss and put in a good time of 4 hours 54 minutes. On the finish line they looked in better shape than some of the athletes and their team had won the Tilman Trophy.
“We’ve entered 4 times and finished 3” said skipper and owner Mike Jaques, “and have finished 3rd before, so it’s great to win the Tilman Trophy and finish 3rd again.” There is a trophy for 3rd place too, that is the The Viking Cup, and the Tilman Trophy is so significant there are second and third placed trophies for that too. (There are a total of 30 trophies in all!)
Just before Nunatak’s runners came into the finish those from Flycatcher and Moby J set off in the hunt for their own trophies. Flycatcher has had a fast 3rd sail and could win the cup for that, as well as second place in the Tilman Trophy, while the runners from Moby J are in the lead on aggregate running time and aiming to win the 3rd big trophy of the race, taking the title of King of the Mountains.
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