Fark’n Good Board by FCD
Back in March 2012 Patagonia Ambassador Belinda Baggs acquired an FCD ‘FARK’ that she claims, now 4 months on, has “changed the state of her surfing forever”. This is the story of Belinda’s FARK.
One cloudy summers morning I met up with Trevor Gordon and Dan Malloy at Bluey’s beach in Forster. The waves were fun 3 foot, offshore and peaky. I was riding a stubby twin-fin that I had in my quiver for quite sometime. Wave after wave I felt a constant struggle — partially due to my fitness levels caused by my past pregnancy, and the fact I had never found a short-board that I really gelled with. Trevon and Dan were trading off on an intising swallow tail, quad That I later learnt was the Fark. Besides that fact that they both rip every wave was executed perfectly, flowing turns and something captivating about the look of this board moving through the water… Finally I snagged a wave.… with enough foam to get you in early, extremely fast yet still flowing through the turns. This board allows you to surf powerful yet still be snappy with turns.
After hours of trying to persuade Trevor on a longterm loan, I finally gave up when i saw it slip swiftly into a board bag bound for a plane headed directly to LAX.…. But I just had to have one! After phoning Zeb Walsh for some advise and hope that there may be a FARK resting inside Patagonia Torquay. Luckily my new FARK had been sitting in the board store for a few months and Zeb was happy to part ways with the FARK and freight it up to me in Newcastle.
Unwrapping the carefully packaged board I had butterflies in my stomach… The first time I put FARK under my arm, I had that feeling; this is a great board! With only a few days to give the FARK a test run the swell was up and bombing at my local beach break. After catch enough waves to know it worked well I handed over FARK to Adam, where he really put it through the paces. surviving the 3 day swell I had it wrapped up and ready for a 6 week overseas journey.
Christened in the Pacific, across a sunburnt country and north to the warm waters of the indian ocean. The Mentawaiis are the perfect testing ground for such a board. I love that you can get into the wave those few seconds earlier, allowing those few more seconds to set for the bowl or that head-start to race through a freight-train section.
It wasn’t until the Philippines that I felt I got to ‘stretch my legs’ and really push FARK putting it through the paces. A-frames, hollow lefts, fast down the line rights and endless beach break peak. We surfed it all, everything from 1 foot up to 8 the fark hasn’t failed me yet. Quite the contrary its pushed my surfing to keep up with the capabilities of the FARK. Not only has it allowed me to catch more waves but really try to push each and every turn further with each wave. The FARK imitates the down the line speed of a fish with the maneuverability of a modern short board. 
Back home in Australia the winter swell brought some solid East Coast swells. Chasing waves down as far south as Ulladulla we found some hollow peaks along the shores of Wollongong. Adam Spent the next few weeks teaching me to ‘pull in’.. and leading by example. This is the first time I have felt confident on any short board. I’m totally addicted and now find myself checking the short board waves and frequently leaving the house without my log!
Shaped by Fletcher Chouinard the FARK is made from extruded polystyrene foam and glassed in tripple 4 oz epoxy deck and double 4 oz bottom. This board is extremely light and strong.… really strong.
For more information on the FARK and other FCD board check Patagonia’s surfboard product range. or stop into your local Patagonia store.
Background Photo: by Mike Tittel