Members of the harness racing world are always exploring options which will result in their horses going quicker. With the quest to achieve faster race times always in the forefront, sulky designs are always tweaked and are constantly evolving.
Celebrity Farms owner Sam Stathis recently commissioned students at New York’s Pine Bush High School to create a redesign of the traditional sulky – or race bike. In turn, the members of the Computer Aided Design (CAD), Science Principles, and Energy Systems classes rolled up their sleeves.
As an article by the Times Herald-Record explains, the only insistence that Stathis conveyed was that the design had to be ‘American.’
The report conveys that Stathis’ project had more to do with giving the students a unique creative opportunity than actually designing a race-ready sulky for traditional action. Regardless, the Pine Bush students went whole-hog on the challenge and came up with some truly American designs.
In her piece for the Times Herald-Record, author Donna Kessler states that the students created a pair of truly unique race bikes: one which emulates aspects of a 2012 Ford GT40, and the other paying homage to the 2014 Corvette Stingray.
"It really was fun," student Julia Quecada was quoted as saying. "We learned a lot more from this than the regular curriculum."
Fellow student Silke Henstebeck said, "It was great seeing something that you designed become reality."
Photos of the sulkies appear below.
(With files from the Times Herald-Record)
Along with the search for
Along with the search for "increased speed", I hope safety or better yet increased safety is on the agenda. I recall when driving in the 70.s the Single Shaft Sulky was approved for approximately 3 months. It was frightening and resulted in several accidents especially since the hub rail was still in existence!!
Congrats to our wonderful
Congrats to our wonderful Pine Bush High School students. Thinking out of the box . Ontario and Pine Bush unite!Anne and Jim Feeley , Salt Hill Farm; Pine Bush , N.Y.