Dates: 23 – 28 July
Rideable days: 5 out of 6
Wind: 10 – 25 knots
Looking at my site analytics, I know for a fact that my Feelgood posts aren’t that popular at all. Compared with my more commonplace spot guides like for Dakhla and Tarifa, my guides for South of Sweden and the reflections on life they tend to come with nowadays don’t come close.
But that’s ok. More and more I’m writing these for my own pleasure and possibility to look back and reminisce on good times. These are not spot guides any more. I’ve covered all the spots we visit many times before. Nothing to add part from the specifics for this year, like wind stats, which spots we visited and what rum we drank.
Did you actually come here to learn more about the kitesurf spots in and around Malmö? Do allow me to refer you to one of these spot guides from earlier years:
Now, on to 2024’s installation of Feelgood Camp, aka three uni friends who come together and chase wind, kitesurf and chat about life for a few days during the Swedish summer!
Feelgood 2024
We were lucky this year. Five out of six days with wind. Be it some very, very light wind some days, but rode we did nonetheless, so it counts. Feelgood is, as the name implies, about good times, and if we can hang out on a sunny beach and get a bit of cruising and jumping done on our kiteboards I don’t think anyone of us has anything to complain about. Not even me, who’s the trickster in the group. I do love my jumps, spins and progression – But, as long as I can stay up-wind I can practise technique.
I had a secret weapon this summer. Last year we saw a lot of light wind as well, and I ended up borrowing the larger kites from Jonas and Björn most days. With that in mind, I researched light wind kites this spring and ended up buying a 13m Duotone Juice which served me extremely well on this trip. On our first day, Jonas and I had a sunny afternoon session in Falsterbo. While we thought there was no chance of riding, using our well calibrated and highly accurate internal wind measuring instruments (wind on skin, sound of wind, and speed of clouds), I thought I’d at least launch the Juice and have a play with it on the beach. But as the kite climbed to zenith I felt enough power to step on Jonas’ eminent light wind board from A-Boards and give it a go. I was so sure it wouldn’t be enough for a session that I kept the sunnies on. To my surprise it was enough. At least for a few cruise-y tacks among the bathers. We took turns and were both highly impressed with the light wind performance of the kite in combination with the board.
We were comfortably hungry when we got back home and I suggested a grilled chicken and chips, fully aware that I was heading for a second dinner with my family in Malmö a few hours later. Coincidentally my parents were in town to meet my one month old niece, so I drove in to Malmö and joined them for a crayfish party.
Skanör marina
Björn joined us on Wednesday and we went to Feelgood spot #1: Skanör. Why is this such a good spot? It’s the combination of beautiful scenery, good kiting, a good community and the nearby marina with its food, coffee and people watching. It’s hard to imagine a Feelgood camp without at least one visit to Skanör. We missed our “Are you in the mood for coffee?” coffee van barista this year but we did get our traditional herring plate, served with an ice cold pilsner as per tradition. More liquid enjoyment awaited us back home: Björn had brought two bottles of agricole he’d bought at a distillery in Guadeloupe, where he also went kiting for a day.
Nybrostrand
The modern classic, Nybrostrand, was our target for Thursday. It was a sunny day and the wind was maybe the strongest I’ve ever experienced here. That’s not to say it was strong, but it was plenty for boosting off the waves for some double backs and fronts. As always, we were the only ones there kiting. On the beach we met Christian Schaack, who may not share our interest in kitesurfing but for sure had a keen interest in photography. He snapped a few brilliant shots with his “it’s the best money can buy” camera (the ones of me, and also the cover shot for this blog post).
JP
Friday wasn’t going to give us much wind anywhere in the region, so we chose JP for its flat water. With no chop or waves to slow us down we might just be able to have some fun on this borderline day. It was probably no more than 10 – 12 knots, but with the 13m and 14m kites we managed to ride for an hour or so before a rain cloud came closer and closer and we packed up. Saturday was guaranteed to be a no-go day, so we had tactically chosen today for our annual night out in Malmö with Myran. We always have Indian, followed by a few bar hops, but I think it was Jonas who pushed for something different this year. “We create more memories if we do something different” he said, and that sounds like a plausible theory. We’ve done the same things every Feelgood camp for the last five, six years, and I do have to dig deep in the memory bank to keep them apart. Luckily I got these posts to fall back on, should my memory fail me one day.
Plan B
So, no Indian in 2024. Instead we went to the food court Malmö Saluhall in Västra hamnen. Great ramen, plenty of artisan beer and a live DJ who played eminently from a selection of funk and disco, with hints of latin vibes thrown in every now and then. This was followed by a pit stop at a bar that looked like someone’s living room, where they served fancy cocktails and where Jonas’s partner had a girls’ night out with her childhood friends. We had strict plans to be at Plan B before 11 PM, and managed to find a bus that took us most of the journey. It’s indeed fun to try new places, especially when you don’t know much about it and have few expectations.
After walking down a very straight road full of “bilmäck” places with signs written in poor Swedish we finally arrived at this Gen Z hipster type night club in full Hackney meets Berlin grittiness. Two dance floors was pumping out either tech house or Swedish indie classics. We were good at jumping from one to the other and managed to time the indie floor just as ‘Det snurrar i min skalle’ came on. Shortly thereafter it was time for ‘Heartbeats’ by The Knife and after that I couldn’t ask for more. My night was done and everything else from now on was a bonus. A night bus took us back home to Svedala and I don’t think anyone complained about Saturday being windless.
The write-off
Saturday was slow. We stretched a bit. We kicked it with Jonas’ children a bit. We must’ve done something in the evening but I can honestly not recall what sort of shenanigans, philosophical pondering or socially dubious activities we got up to. We probably watched the olympics.
Lomma
Sunday was go-home day. But luckily my flight was in the evening and we had most of the day for kiting in Lomma. I voted for this spot so I could pack my kite on grass before my flight, and to end up with a different spot each day, since variety is the spice of life. But also because we hadn’t been here since 2019 and I was a bit curious to ride it again. This is, after all, one of the first spots I kitesurfed. Or tried to at least, since it was during our beginner’s course in 2009.
As per forecast, it was already decent wind when we arrived, and it was only going to get stronger. I had two powered sessions – one on the Juice, and one on the 10m Switchblade. It’s a decent spot for sure, and a close drive from Malmö. But it doesn’t beat the other spots we visited earlier in the week. My favourite part of the spot is on the far side, out from the pier. Here it’s not too shallow to worry about crashes and there are some decent waves rolling in for kicker fun. I also took a quick look at the pond but noticed a sign that bans kiting in there nowadays. Probably for the better as it’s just as inaccessible as it’s alluringly flat.
And just like that, we wrap up another Feelgood camp and are already looking forward to the next one. Feelgood 2025 – May you come soon, but not too soon.