Cutback or top turn?

Inspired by those comments in the last post, I wrote this reply that than I upgraded to the status of post. It was a comment, but I decided to make a post of it. Comments and posts. Two different things. Just like cutbacks and top turns....

First, let's learn what is and how to do a cutback in surfing.

Now let's watch this video. Despite the fact that, in my opinion, he's got one of the best cutbacks out there, whoever edited this video of Joel Parkinson, decided to only put two proper cutties of him: at sec 54 and at min 3:00.
All the other turns at the top of the wave he does are TOP TURNS. No matter how much he turns the board in them (90, 180, 270, 360 degrees...), they're still TOP TURNS, because he's not driving his board back to the white water and then hitting the white water, like in a cutback.

You guys with me?

No, let's check what windsurfers mean when they say cutback. There's four clips in the cutback category on Continentseven (got to select them in the central column under the first video).

Allright, let's watch a few better ones.
As Anon suggests, one of the best windsurfing cutback is performed by Jason Polakow. Couldn't agree more, if he only called it top turn.
Let me take you guys to this page, where I randomly ended on looking for "windsurfing cutbacks".
See that first photo? "Windsurfer doing a nice cutback"... yeah, right.
Scroll further down on that page, there's a 5 min clip that I'm embedding hereafter. In the first two minutes, the clips features our friend JP demolishing waves at Hookipa, Cabo Verde, Jaws, Lanes and specially Backyards (my favorite section of The windsurfing movie).
NONE of those AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE, UNREAL, SICK turns are cutbacks. They're top turns. Not better or worse than a cutback, just top turns.


Cutback has been a windsurfing term for as long as I can remember and it has always been misused.
Excuse me if I think different (and I'm precise).

Enough of that, here's yesterday's photos slideshow.

Da hell is that publicity now? Ok, now I'm really done with Slide!

Check photo 8. See how low Boujmaa has the boom? Imagine it three inches higher. He couldn't do the hand drag...

Well, it was another 4.5 and windswell fun day at Hookipa today. Dave was webcasting live on epicsessions.tv and he will do the same the whole weekend. Probably around 2 or 3 hawaii time.
Hopefully he will stay a few days longer, because the forecast from Monday on is very promising.
Check Friday night's weather map.


Those two puppies will send some big waves. Uncle Pat predicts an extra-large swell out of the storm on the left. Unfortunately at the beginning it will overlap with the moderate sets sent by the one on the right and that will make the conditions particularly difficult and dangerous. I predict plenty gear on the rocks. Not mine, since I'll sail somewhere else.

Love life.