For more than 14 years, the brand Varna has been holding the world record on the fastest human-powered vehicles. The company name comes from the founder’s hometown -Varna, Bulgaria, as reported by Darik news. Additionally, it has accumulated an impressive list of achievements, including the European Innovative Award and a feature on Discovery Channel.

Georgi Georgiev graduated from the “Academy of Art” in Belgrade, and later emigrated to canada. He became interested in Human-Powered Vehicles (HPV) in the late 1970′s. After an accident of one his friends that left him paralyzed, Georgi set on a mission to help ease the lives of wheel-bound people across the world. Since then, the Guinness Worlds Speed Records have been topped 10 times with vehicles, produced by Georgiev’s company. Among them are Varna Tempest, Varna Mephisto, and Varna Diablo.

In 2009 Varna Tempest has sped up to 133.28 km per hour, a number unseen by a human-propelled vehicle before. Canadian scientists have stated that the bullet-shaped vehicles are created in the optimal aerodynamic form in history of humankind. Curiously enough, Georgi did not use any complicated mathematical equations, but simply his engineering instincts.

Photo: Varnahandcycles.com