Having been a spectator at the 2006 World Championships at Eton I was inspired to travel down to Germany watch the GB crews compete at this year's location.

The pressure was on for the GB crews; they had picked up several important medals the year before and this was one of the vitally important Olympic qualifying events. So a decision was made that JMB, Ali Saunders (next year's Captain) and I would travel down to give our support to our GB crews.

Our journey was going to be epic as the prospect of driving through 5 countries over 2 days was daunting. It all started at 1 Church Cottages (JMB's house) in Monkton. Before our journey had really begun, we had to have a slight detour to Bristol airport to pick up Ali who was returning from holiday. We soon had the team together and set off for Dover, and after a day's drive, an overnight stop with Stphane Girard in Mainz; then on to Munich.

Our journey was steady but broken intermittently in various countries for picnics; all picnic spots were rated by Mr B on a scale of 1-10, with the Netherlands nearly scoring nil points! The highest score was Belgium with 7 points, as far as I can recall.

Having watched the first day of semi finals we moved to our various residencies, JMB in a local hotel and Ali and me on a local camp site. During the second day, we met up with the GB supporters club, who were preparing to cheer on the crews. During the week we followed a routine of watching the racing in the early part of the day and then exploring local attractions in the afternoon, visiting such sites as Dachau, one of the horrific concentration camps, now preserved as a museum. The experience was stirring, but Mr B helped us to realise that it was something that should be done. The evenings were dotted with various samplings of local brews and schnitzels, all of which went down very pleasantly, especially after a tiring morning of watching rowing.

Although the week did not go as planned for all the GB crews, GB still won the event. The team walked away from the championships with 11 crews on the Podium, all of which were Olympic qualifying classes- the GB squad are still the best in the world!

Our week was thoroughly enjoyable but sadly soon ended; with many sights seen and various friends made, and of course much rowing watched, we faced the long return journey back to No. 1 Church Cottages.

Next year Beijing calls for support and I hope to be a spectator there, and I would encourage any rower or anyone associated with the sport to go to one of these major international events and give support. Hope to see you there...