The downwind pickup is used to showcase above average skills. It’s difficult to do correctly and puts you a cut above those who use the wind as a crutch for an easy pickup. It is best to executed in winds above 10 knots with lots of loudly shouted commands from the helm to show who is in charge and impress onlookers. If you really want to impress everyone combine the downwind pickup with lots of speed and slam the engine or engines into heavy reverse producing big clouds of black smoke! Extra points for rigging the bow lines after you grab the Mooring.