Sound like you had the same experience as I did on my first ride on my E9. What I found was that the stopper had been set far to low and hence the de-power range on the bar was just about 30 cm so I had the feeling of kiten with an old c-kite from early 05. Had to edge like mad to control the kite. I did finally just get ridd of the stopper altogether to get something like a "normal" sheeting range, now the kite was completely controlable and nice, realy nice infact.
If you get a chance to try it again, possibly with another bar, let us know how it turns out.
As you has stated you have a Naish Cult and in my experience these kites are possibly the best kites ever made for gusty horrible winds. I did have a Naish 14 m Helix, and boy was that a kite that could handle gusty overpowered riding .
I just have to say that the Element 13 and Element 9 are realy good, allround kites but are a bit put down by the bar system (mostly the stopper) that I believe need som work.
/Urban.