Herman is spot on - the by far major mistake, even by experienced kitesurfers to retrieve the board, is to point too high with your arm/body.
Think about that, just drag mentally across the wind and you will go upwind so to speak, a lot faster, and avoid the classic mistake trying to point up to your board
If you are using your board to drag upwind, it is somewhat different because you have to hold one arm over your board, no matter if a surfboard or TT or hydrofoil, same thing.
You still have to avoid pointing too high, but a lot easier and more intuitive when you dont try to GET to your board, but are dragging with your board.
Even in 5-7 knots on a hydrofoil, you can drag upwind (with a light kite), holding your foilboard with one arm, and in marginal winds you have to dive your kite down forward, not too low, depower it while flying up again avoiding losing kitespeed - up to or even past 12, and then down again.
An important skill for being able to get out to sufficiently deep water when dead onshore - which it unfortunately most often is in marginal/light wind seabreezes - which is the best weather to foil in, warm and smooth wind and sunny
No matter how, dont fly the kite too low, and in light wind, be ready to downloop it to save it from dropping.
Difficult with bigger kites indeed, but more important as no wind at the surface thus maybe impossible to relaunch if they go down.
If your kite can hang at almost 9 or 15 o'clock, it is easy, and you just have to park it 30 to 45 degree above water a bit depowered and remember not to point too high upwind - AND, depower the kite fully flying it slowly over 12 when you change tack to avoid losing ground.
Not a good idea to take long tacks for your board, short ones so it does not get out of sight.
Peter