I guess I should have mentioned that I'm not talking about wind with significant waves. If there are waves, keeping them out of your boat would be the priority. I'm also not talking about high winds either, just normal wind or even a breeze. It can be coming from any direction too, even in a head wind it will be hitting you from one side or the other.
I've always paddled with my boat leaned away from the wind. That what Bill Mason recommends and it made sense to me, until one day I decided to lean towards the wind. I noticed pretty quickly that the wind didn't affect my bow as much and it was easier to hold it where I wanted without using as much energy. At first I didn't know why, as it seemed counterintuitive, but I think I have it figured out. The first thing I noticed was that by leaning into the wind, it angled the bottom of my boat so that the V shape of the stern was slicing through the water as opposed to having water pile up against it. In other words, if I wanted to move my bow to the left it was now easier because it made moving my stern to the right easier.
The second thing I noticed was that by holding the lean the boat continued to turn. It became obvious at that time that I was carving into the turn and wind. Carving had always been somewhat of a mystery to me but this made it more clear. To put it simply, carving is just using your hull like a big stationary rudder.
This revelation has changed the way I paddle. Now, especially in wind, I'm always carving in the direction of the turn. This goes a long way into lessening the amount of energy needed for correction strokes and in turning the boat in general. When doing this in the wind I get the best results by leaning into it while paddling on the opposite (downwind) side. This should be easy in a dedicated solo that is narrow enough to lean to one side while paddling on the other. I can do it in my tandems paddling from a more centralized position but it's harder to get enough lean while paddling on the downwind side and still have a powerful stroke. I get the best results paddling from the stern seat where I can lean the boat either way and easily paddle on either side.
You guys who said they lean into the wind, are you carving like I described?