Eduardo wrote: ↑Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:46 am
1) stay on the wave and ride it straight down wind (towards shore) trying to either let the kite drift or if the wave is too fast, moving the kite as needed
That sounds like quite a weird use case to me. If it's onshore and going straight downwind, then you're going to quickly outrun the wave. No one really rides a wave going straight towards the shore. You see beginner surfers take off, gaining speed during the drop down the face of the wave, then keep going straight and soon end up in slow-mo in the whitewater. Like that, you can essentially only go as fast as the wave is going, which is not that fast. It's only when you pick a side, Right or Left, that you can stay in contact with the wave face, ride at an angle to the direction of the wave, and have a board speed significantly higher than the wave speed. Most likely in that use case of going straight downwind, the wave will be too slow, and never really too fast. Unless you're talking about riding swell with a large period over 15s, in which case, you're lucky, and it can feel like endless going straight down the face. (but you still have to deal with the kite, and it'd better be fairly windy for that!)
In real world conditions, going down the face straight down wind, straight towards the shore will only be a very transient stage, quickly followed by a (bottom) turn/carve back towards the wave, and a top turn towards beach and repeat at will. Kite will regain tension or be redirected during those carves on the wave. The more your kite drifts, the more freedom of movement you will have in terms of how much you can tighten those turns.