In light conditions one has to be able to "crab" back up the hill to do a top-landing:

Crabbing is a pretty simple thing to do, but hard to teach.  It is easier in stronger wind, but also more dangerous. 

All of your body weight goes to one side, giving brake on the other side.  This will keep the canopy faced in the same direction but allow you to "side slip" from side to side.  We do it all the time to top-land on those scratchy days...  Keep the wing into the wind, weight shift in the direction you want to move, and give some outside brakes.  This is usually all you have to do in strong wind.  You are changing the bank angle of the wing, but the outside brake is keeping the wing even.  Because your center-of-gravity is all in one direction, and there is an even tension on all the risers of that side (as opposed to only the brake line on the outside), your wing will slip into that direction.  

It's not an exact science, and you may find that in lighter winds you have to weight shift and give brake in the direction you want to go, while maintaining more outside brake.  The danger here is that you are increasing your angle of attack and the likelyhood of a stall.

Tristam Burrell
www.blusky.co.za
tristam@blusky.co.za