Although Club racing was very active, there were also several inter-club fixtures. One famous match, always won by the visiting team, was for the ‘Golden Kipper’. The ‘Kipper’ series were inaugurated after the First World War to commemorate, or perhaps compensate, for a visit by Trent Valley to the Thames Sailing Club. Rationing was still in operation after the war and food in short supply. A Leicester member of Trent Valley had obtained a barrel of kippers and these were taken with the team to Thames. Everyone ate their fill of the kippers but, as some of the fish still remained and could not of course be wasted, a kipper eating contest was organized.
The names of the winners of this contest have been forgotten but it has not been forgotten that the kippers were still not finished. Unbeknown to their hosts, Trent Valley then embarked on a kipper hiding contest. The kippers were hidden everywhere fertile minds could think of, under the cushions, behind the pictures, even among the sails. Trent Valley then departed for the north, leaving behind them the most appalling smell. It took Thames Sailing Club a long time to locate all the sources of the stink and over six months to eradicate it. To commemorate this memorable weekend, Roderick Farmer made a mould of a kipper, then cast it in plaster of Paris which was then plated with copper.
Thames Sailing Club and Trent Valley still compete for the Kipper!