I asked if this was possible on a different thread on this forum, because it seemed like it should be....
It's pretty cool to find out that it is... and when the gear and techniques advance far enough, I'll be super stoked to invest in this aspect of the sport.
I had over a decade of short board windsurfing experience before I gave it up completely for kiting, around the millennium, and it is actually true that water starting was easier on a lower volume board, and the key component was having enough wind.
Of course there almost never was, and that what led me into kiting, but it's still pretty cool to know that this is possible!