I am playing around with wave riding. My waves are either direct sideshore or slightly side-onshore.
Watching others and videos, seems there's two ways to attack it:
1) very active kite to pull you through both top and bottom turns...big moves, big spray, though not really "surfing" the wave
2) park the kite, let it drift, while you surf the wave ... use the wave energy to propel you, not the kite's pull.
2nd option is definitely more challenging. Hard to time it right. And also, if wave is too small or has no power, eventually need to power up the kite ... timing is crucial, or it stalls and you have no forward momentum.
So....question for the wave pros....in side-onshore wind, when kite is parked and drifting, is your kite facing out into open water or towards shore? Pointing to sea feels safer, as you can exit out the back any time, but it seems you eventually overtake the kite angle and lose power. Pointing to shore means kite can keep up with you better, but then when it powers up, you may rocket towards shore ahead of the wave....which in this case is pretty close, not a lot of distance to play with should things go wrong (as they seem to in wave riding).
What do you do in this situation? [and sorry if a dumb question]