Dont know if this has already been said... but ill say it anyway just in case. I worked in a kite shop in the Uk over the summer (coming to oz in 3 weeks tho) and i kitesurf alot myself, many of the links that hit the uk had problems with the bridles something about a factory error that slingshot admitted to and have after a few months of their release have sent out replacements. I heard that the ones that had the right bridle with no factory errors were good kites but the ones that came to my shop all flew really badly and we sent them all back to the slingshot distributor. So maybe worth finding out whether any of the baddens made it to oz.

The problem with the links was not a error at the factory. it was a design problem. Hence the new 4 line bridal being designed , sent to shops for testing and then finally issued to existing owners.
not sure how ss managed to put the kite into production in this state, guess it has to do with market pressure.

The kite flies very very well in 5 line mode, ive heard that relaunch is not easy. this isnt my experience however, ive dropped it twice and relaunched it immediately.

When i finally got the bridal fix (3 months of waiting) - 4 line mode, only used it a little but initial feeling is that its good.

tempted to keep it in 5 line mode, but prefer 4 lines as 5 line is a bit risky in the surf - as the 5th line can rip your kite in half.

the kite should fly very easily - unless you have set it up incorrectly.