Helldog - why you bought a speed as a beginner kite - I don't know....you should have got an XTC at the time - or now a pulse. Try learning on a lift pro , X10, X4 etc and you'd have had problems.

At the time the depower claims were correct - but it was not a push bar out etc depower of bows etc - but usable range of kite with use of the trim strap.

I'm glad you're happy with what you ride now, but as someone who learnt on Flysurfers a long tim eago I have a completly different experience to you in that I found th eease of use enabled me to progress a lot faster than most of my mates who were on Tubes - horses for courses

confucius he say:

"the inept workman blames his tools"

I would prefer to say "use the right tool for the job". The Speed is an advanced, high-performance kite - you don't need to be an experienced rider to use it, but you do need to be an advanced kiter or it will likely be frustrating, particularly in sub-par winds. Unfortunately there were a lot of raves about this kite and they didn't always stress those points - and newbs who didn't know better could easily have seen all the hype and thought anyone could use it. (common problem with many reviews...)

The Pulse, on the other hand, is indeed a beginner's kite. I recently helped a guy who had bought one after many struggles trying to learn with inflatos - and unlike the LEI's, he was able to relaunch the Pulse (twice!) on his own.

Also, Flysurfer is updating their instructional videos, so even if you don't have a fellow foiler to help you at the beach, the videos make it a lot easier to figure out than a manual.
http://www.flysurfer.com/Gallery/v/videos/manual/