How to choose crew for a long distance race

My humble tips

• someone you get along with
• someone you trust and who trusts you
  
• someone who is willing to spend time working on the boat with you, so that this person gets to know the boat very well. If something needs to get fixed or if something happens to you (say you're seasick), you want this person to know the boat as well as you do
  
• someone who is handy/engineer-minded (even before being a sailor), both mechanical and electrical/electronic style jobs
  
• someone you have taken on a somewhat long trip before, ideally overnighter, so they get a feel for what it's like and don't decide they want to head back 10 miles into the race. That's partly what qualifying trips help you with
  
• If you have to choose, favor safety (ability to fix things, and navigate the boat safely, even if not competitively) over sailing performance. If you can get both, awesome!
• Someone who share the same objective as you do - or if not, make sure it is out in the open and OK by both parties. If you want to race for blood, you may not be happy with a crew member who just wants to go out and do some whale watching.