The Tradewinds Rally is sponsored by Britain's Royal Air Force Yacht Club, and takes 20 months to complete the circumnavigation. In the next year the fleet will be stopping at Cairns, Darwin, Indonesia, Bali, Malaysia, Phuket, Sri Lanka, Djibouti, Port Sudan, Eilat, Port Said, Crete, Greece, Malta, and Gibraltar. The vessels are mostly large, expensive, and new. Most boats were purchased, outfitted and launched not much more than a year ago when the rally began at Gibralter. Many of the skippers seem as 'new' as their boats, but I can safely report that most are learning via this accelerated course.
Most boats have four people aboard, while a few have six.
I'm one of the exceptions. The paying crew business was intended to keep out the riff-raff and make the paying guests feel as though they were part of the rally. But, in fact, it's horrible as it seems to have frustrated loyalty and camaraderie among the crew. It has also created a separation between owners and crew at social events. After being used to the 'everyone's equal' feeling when in cruising Mexico, the business of some folks having to pay has seemed very odd.