I was also fascinated by the way it works out - whoever proposes the distribution gets almost everything once you past n=2.
Generalizing to larger numbers, it appears that the person making the proposal gives one pirate 2 coins, and hands out 1 coin each to enough pirates to get him his majority, and everyone else gets none. Going one round deeper, all the guys who got "0" get "1", one of the "1s" gets 2 to bring the vote to a majority.
The chances of Pirate #5 (in this case) actually holding on to his 997 gold pieces and his neck are slim, of course. I can just hear pirate #1 after the distribution ...
"arrrrr, that were a good game, lads. Now hand me the loot ..."
As for Team Zachery, I did post a sign-up message in the appropriate thread. Of course, Zachery seems to be off-line just now ...