There was an old demo of a wind turbine powered boat travelling straight into wind faster than sail boats of the time could.
It is mentioned in this quick summation of
https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/revisiting-the-case-for-windmill-propulsion-1
As is @dougselsam
As for the minmax problem… As long as you can deploy and recover in short order, having a limited performance window may not be a huge problem.
Designing for rigidity and tension across the whole system is going to help.
A mast has the negative effects of adding healing moment to the vessel.
There is a lot of space in the ocean…
An underinvestigated proposition is using auxiliary foil craft as part of the rig. (bit like a waterskier riding along out the side) A line between even 2 craft could provide a great base for stabilising kite operation.