A lateen sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.

History of sails[link]

Yacht sails seen from the deck

The earliest known depictions of sails are from ancient Egypt around 3200 BCE,^[1][2] where reed boats sailed upstream against the River Nile's current. Ancient Sumerians used square rigged sailing boats at about the same time, and it is believed they established sea trading routes as far away as the Indus valley. The proto-Austronesian words for sail, lay(r), and other rigging parts date to about 3000 BCE when this group began their Pacific expansion.^[3] Greeks and Phoenicians began trading by ship by around 1,200 BCE.

Square sails mounted on yardarms perpendicular to the boat's hull are very good for downwind sailing; they dominated in the ancient Mediterranean and spread to Northern Europe, and were independently invented in China and Ecuador. Although fore-and-aft rigs have become more popular on modern yachts, square sails continued to power full-rigged ships through the Age of Sail and to the present day. Triangular fore-and-aft rigs were invented in the Mediterranean as single yarded lateen sails and independently in the Pacific as the more efficient bi sparred crab claw sail,^[4][5] and continue to be used throughout the world. During the 16th-19th centuries other fore-and-aft sails were developed in Europe, such as the spritsail, gaff rig, jib/genoa/staysail, and Bermuda rig, improving European upwind sailing ability.

In an interesting recent development, an elderly trawler, TS Pelican, was fitted with what are thought to have been the unorthodox riggings used by the Barbary pirates in the 16th century. The resultant performance has been remarkable, with the Pelican sailing, at speed, over 20 degrees nearer the wind than any square rigger.^[6]

Space satellites have successfully deployed solar sails which use radiation pressure or solar wind to propel them.^[7][8]

Use of sails[link]

Sails are primarily used on the water by sailing ships and sail boats as a propulsion system. For purposes of commerce, sails have been greatly superseded by other forms of propulsion, such as the internal combustion engine. For recreation, however, sailing vessels remain popular. The most familiar type of sailboat, a small pleasure yacht, usually has a sail-plan called a sloop. This has two sails in a fore-and-aft arrangement: the mainsail and the jib.

The mainsail extends aftward and is secured the whole length of its edges to the mast and to a boom also hung from the mast. The sails of tall ships are attached to wooden timbers or "spars".

The jib is secured along its leading edge to a forestay (strong wire) strung from the top of the mast to the bowsprit on the bow (nose) of the boat. A genoa is also used on some boats. It is a type of jib that is large enough to overlap the mainsail, and cut so that it is fuller than an ordinary jib producing a greater driving force in lighter winds.

A spinnaker is also used on some boats to help move the sailboat faster downwind. The spinnaker is often a colorful sail and can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Fore-and-aft sails can be switched from one side of the boat to the other in order to provide propulsion as the sailboat changes direction relative to the wind. When the boat's stern crosses the wind, this is called gybing; when the bow crosses the wind, it is called tacking. Tacking repeatedly from port to starboard and/or vice versa, called "beating", is done in order to allow the boat to follow a course into the wind. Modern boats can sail as close as 30 degrees to the wind.

A primary feature of a properly designed sail is an amount of "draft", caused by curvature of the surface of the sail. When the leading edge of a sail is oriented into the wind, the correct curvature helps maximise lift while minimising turbulence and drag, much like the carefully designed curves of aircraft wings. Modern sails are manufactured with a combination of broadseaming and non-stretch fabric (ref New technology below). The former adds draft, while the latter allows the sail to keep a constant shape as the wind pressure increases. The draft of the sail can be reduced in stronger winds by use of a cunningham and outhaul, and also by bending the mast and increasing the downward pressure of the boom by use of a boom vang.

Other sail powered machines include ice yachts, windmills, kites, signs, hang gliders, electric generators, windsurfers, and land sailing vehicles.

Sail construction is governed by the science of aerodynamics.

Types of rig[link]

Ship Garthsnaid at sea c. 1920. Men can be seen in the rigging.

Generally speaking, sailing vessels employ two main types of rig: the square rig and the fore-and-aft rig.

The square rig, which reached its maximum development in the clipper ships and trading barques of the late 19th and early 20th century, relies on rectangular sails hung beneath yards, themselves suspended from the masts and set "square" (i.e., at a right angle to) the keel of the ship. This kind of rig requires an enormous amount of rigging (at least nine ropes per sail) and cannot sail closer than about 60° to the wind. Few vessels of this type are seen today, other than the spectacular ones used for sail training. Most square rigged vessels also carry at least some fore-and-aft sails.

The fore-and-aft rig is far more common: nearly every dinghy and yacht uses this type of rig, in which the sails are mounted parallel to the keel and are secured to the fore of the ship and to the aft rather than side to side. A large mainsail is often rigged abaft the mast(s) and usually a jib in front of it. The foot of the mainsail is usually extended by a boom. Each sail needs only two or three ropes for its basic control.

Sail aerodynamics[link]

Sails propel the boat in one of two ways. When the boat is going in the direction of the wind (i.e. downwind - see Points of sail), the sails may be set merely to trap the air as it flows by. Sails acting in this way are aerodynamically stalled. Drag, always parallel to the wind, contributes the predominate driving force.^[9]

The other way sails propel the boat occurs when the boat is traveling across or into the wind. The sails acting as airfoils propel the boat by redirecting the wind coming in from the side towards the rear. By the law of conservation of momentum, the wind moves the sail as the sail redirects downwash air backwards. Air pressure differences across the sail area result in forces on sails including drag and lift. A component of the lift is the main driving force.^{[10][11][12][13]}

The sails can also act as airfoils in some downwind situations, e.g. spinnakers and square-rigged sails can be trimmed so that their upper edges become leading edges and they operate as airfoils again, but with airflow directed more or less vertically downwards. This mode of trim also provides the boat with some actual lift and may reduce both wetted area and the risk of 'digging in' to waves. In stronger winds, turbulence created behind stalled sails can lead to aerodynamic instability, which in turn can manifest as increased downwind rolling of the boat.

Sail are often equipped with lightweight tapes or strands (tell-tales) to indicate the airflow in their area. They may be on both sides near the leading edges of the sail, or at the trailing edge of the sail. Horizontal strips sewn into fore-and-aft sails and V-shaped markings on spinnakers assist with judging their shape from on deck. These may even glow in the dark, using luminous tapes.

On a sailing boat, a keel or centreboard helps to prevent the boat from moving sideways. The shape of the keel has a much smaller cross section in the fore and aft axis and a much larger cross section on the athwart axis (across the beam of the boat). The resistance to motion along the smallest cross section is low while resistance to motion across the large cross section is high, so the boat moves forward rather than sideways. In other words it is easier for the sail to push the boat forward rather than sideways. However, there is always a small amount of sideways motion, or leeway.

Forces across the boat are resolved by balancing the sideways force from the sail with the sideways resistance of the keel or centerboard. Also, if the boat heels, there are restoring forces due to the shape of the hull and the mass of the ballast in the keel being raised against gravity. Forward forces are balanced by velocity through the water and friction between the hull, keel and the water.

Parts of the sail[link]

The lower edge of a triangular sail is called the "foot" of the sail, while the upper point is known as the "head". The lower two points of the sail, on either end of the foot, are called the "tack" (forward) and "clew" (aft). The forward edge of the sail is called the "luff" (from which derives the term "luffing", a rippling of the sail when the angle of the wind fails to maintain a good aerodynamic shape near the luff). The aft edge of a sail is called the "leech".

Modern sails are designed such that the warp and the weft of the sailcloth are oriented parallel to the luff and foot of the sail. This places the most stretchable axis of the cloth along the diagonal axis (parallel to the leech), and makes it possible for sailors to reduce the draft of the sail by tensioning the sail, mast and boom in various ways.

Often tell-tales, small pieces of yarn, are attached to the sail. They are used as a guide when trimming the sail.

An alternative approach to sail design is that used in junks, originally an oriental design. It uses horizontal sail curving to produce an efficient and easily controlled sail-plan.^[14]

Sail types[link]

Diagram of Sailboat, in this case a typical monohull sloop with a Bermuda or marconi rig.

Modern sails can be classified into three main categories:

• Mainsail,
• Headsail,
• and Spinnaker or downwind sail (also termed Kite). Special-purpose sails are often a variation of the three main categories.

High-performance yachts, in particular some catamarans such as the International C-Class Catamaran, have used or use rigid wing sails, which are said to provide better performance than traditional soft sails.^[15][16] In particular, a rigid wing sail was used by Stars and Stripes, the defender who won the 1988 America's Cup, and by USA-17, the challenger who won the 2010 America's Cup.

Most modern yachts, including bermuda rig, ketch and yawl boats, have a sail "inventory" which usually includes more than one of these types of sails. Although the mainsail is “permanently” hoisted while sailing, headsails and spinnakers can be changed depending on the particular weather conditions to allow better handling and speed.

Mainsails, as the name implies, are the main element of the sailplan. A "motor" as well as a rudder for the boat, mainsails can be as simple as a traditional triangle-shaped, cross-cut sail (see Sail Construction below). In most cases, the mainsail isn’t changed while sailing, although there are mechanisms to reduce its surface if the wind is very strong (a technique called reefing). In extreme weather, a mainsail can be folded and a trysail hoisted to allow steerage without endangering the boat.

Headsails are the main driving sails when going upwind (sailing towards the wind). There are many types of headsails with Genoa and Jib being the most commonly used. Both these types have different subtypes depending on their intended use. Headsails are usually classified according to their weight (that is, the relative weight of the sailcloth used) and size or total area of the sail. A common classification is numbering from 1 to 3 (larger to smaller) with a description of the use for example: #1 Heavy or #1 Medium/Light. Special types of headsails include the Gennaker (also named Code 0 by some sailmakers), the drifter (a type of Genoa that is used like an asymmetrical spinnaker), the screecher (essentially a large Genoa), the windseeker and storm jib. Certain Genoas and Jibs also have battens which assist in maintaining an optimal shape for the sail.

Spinnakers are used for reaching and running (downwind sailing). They are very light and have a balloon-like shape. As with headsails, there are many types of spinnakers depending on the shape, area and cloth weight. Symmetrical spinnakers are most efficient on runs and dead runs (sailing with wind coming directly from behind) while asymmetric spinnakers are very efficient in reaching (the wind coming from the rear but at an angle to the boat or from the side).

Sail construction[link]

A sail might look flat when lying on the floor but once it is hoisted, it becomes a three-dimensional curved surface, in essence an airfoil. In order for a sail to be "built", it has to be designed in a number of elements (or panels) which are cut and sewn together to form the foil. In older days, this was rightfully considered an art which was later complemented (and arguably overshadowed) by technology. With the advent of computers, sail manufacturers were able to model their sails using special computer-aided design (CAD) programs and directly feed the data to very accurate laser plotters/cutters which cut the panels from rolls of sail cloth, replacing the traditional manual process (scissors).

The key features that distinguish a "fast" from a "slow" sail are its shape related to the particular boat and rig and its ability to consistently maintain that shape. These two features rely mostly on the design of the sail (the way that the panels are placed with one another) and the sail cloth used.

The traditional parallel-panel (cross-cut) gave way to more complex (radial) designs where the panels have different shapes for the top, mid, and lower sections of the sail depending on pressure of the air caused by its flow over the sail surface. Again aided by CAD and special modelling software the sailmakers use cloths of different weight, placing heavier cloth panels where there is more stress and lighter cloth where there is less to make savings in weight.

Older fabrics (especially cotton and low budget synthetic), have the tendency to stretch with wind pressure which results in distorted and consequently inefficient sail shapes. Moreover, the cloth itself is heavy which adds to the inefficiency. Synthetic materials such as Nylon and Dacron were followed by advanced sail cloths made from exotic material yarns such as Aramid (e.g. Twaron, Technora or kevlar), carbon fibre, HMPE (e.g. Spectra/Dyneema), Zylon (PBO) and Vectran (see also Sailcloth). These materials were a breakthrough in sail technology as they provided the raw material in the manufacture of low-stretch, low-weight and long-life sail cloths. Manufacturers were able to use different weights of yarn to weave cloths with exceptional properties.

Once the panels are sewn together (often by triple-stitch method), the sailmakers complete the sail by placing the finishing elements such as the leech and foot lines, protective patches in the areas where the sail will scrape against hardware (stanchions, spreaders), steel rings and straps at the tack and clew, cleats, batten pockets (if required) and sail numbers.

Lamination[link]

Woven cloth or ribbons of high tensile fabric inserts can be "sandwiched" between two layers of PET film and placed in special ovens under pressure to bond into a single body, a process called lamination. The inserts provide the strength and the PET film the continuity and wind resistance. An alternative method is to sandwich a sheet of PET film between two layers of woven cloth. The latter process is popular when using cloth with high strength and UV tolerance, but an open weave. In the latter process the cloth protects the more easily torn PET film. A more complex sail may combine the processes. See also sailcloth.

Weight[link]

A light-weather sail generally weighs around 100 gram/m² and a rough-weather sail/try-out weighs around 500 gram/m² although modern laminated sails can weigh considerably less than this depending on the fibres specified.

Advances in sail materials and manufacture[link]

In addition to advances in the exotic materials and consequent cloths themselves, manufacturers have also progressed the manufacturing process with the creation of glued, molded and laminated sails.

Glued sails are regular paneled sails but instead of sewing the pieces together, the sail maker uses a special, ultra-strong polymer glue which bonds through the use of ultrasound.

In molding, a curved mold is designed and created in the optimum (three dimensional) shape of the sail that the sail maker wants to produce. A film of PET film is placed on the mold and a special gantry hovers over the film laying the yarns based on instructions of a computer that has the model of the sail. Once this is done, a second sheet of PET film is placed on top and the whole mold (with the sail) is placed in a vacuum oven which causes the materials to bond (curing). The result is a smooth sail which is lighter and has a wider effective wind range (the minimum and maximum wind speed that the sail can withstand and be effective).

See also[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Rousmaniere, John. The Annapolis Book of Seamanship. Simon & Shuster, 1999.
• Chapman Book of Piloting (various contributors), Hearst Corporation, 1999.
• Herreshoff, Halsey (consulting editor). The Sailor’s Handbook. Little Brown and Company, 1983.
• Seidman, David. The Complete Sailor. International Marine, 1995.
• Jobson, Gary. Sailing Fundamentals. Simon & Shuster, 1987.
• Marchaj, Czeslaw A. Sail Performance, Techniques to Maximize Sail Power, Revised Edition. London: Adlard Coles Nautical, 2003.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: sails

Look up sail in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Puddle Duck Racer including free instruction on making your own sails from alternate materials like polytarp and tyvek
• Sailboats database: sailing yacht data sheets all over the world
• Sail Design Software
• The quest for the perfect sailshape
• FABRIC Sail Design Software
• Laminated Sails: Doyle Stratis

  Sails, sparsand rigging v t e Sails (sail plan) Course · Crab claw · Driver · Extra · Fisherman · Genoa · Gennaker · Jib · Lateen · Mainsail · Moonraker · Royal · Skysail · Spanker · Spinnaker · Spritsail · Staysail · Studding · Topgallant · Topsail · Trysail · Watersail · lugger Sail anatomy and materials Clew · Foot · Head · Leech · Luff · Roach · Tack · Throat · Peak · Dacron · Technora · Kevlar · Twaron Spars Boom · Bowsprit · Boomkin · Dolphin striker · Pelican striker · Fore-mast · Gaff · Jackstaff · Jibboom · Jigger-mast · Jury rig · Main-mast · Mast · Mizzen-mast · Truck · Spinnaker pole · Spreader · Sprit · Topmast · Yard Rigging components Backstay · Block · Boomkicker · Braces · Buntlines · Chainplates · Cleat · Clevis pin · Clewlines · Cunningham · Downhaul · Earing · Fairlead · Forestay · Gasket · Gooseneck · Gunter · Guy · Halyard · Kicker · Lazy jack · Outhaul · Parrel beads · Peak · Preventer · Ratlines · Running rigging · Shackle · Standing rigging · Sheet · Shroud · Stay mouse · Stays · Throat · Topping lift · Trapeze · Traveller · Turnbuckle · Vang · Windex

Jeb Corliss (born March 25, 1976 near Santa Fe, New Mexico^[1]) is a professional skydiver and BASE jumper. He has jumped from sites including Paris' Eiffel Tower, Seattle's Space Needle, and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[2]

Jeb Corliss is co-founder of 3 Triple 7, a clothing label.

He was also the original host of the Discovery Channel series Stunt Junkies, appearing in 13 episodes, but was fired by Discovery as a result of his arrest (below).

On September 25, 2011 Corliss jumped out of a helicopter at 6,000 feet and glided through a 100-ft wide archway in Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China, landing with a parachute on a nearby bridge.^[3][4]

Arrest[link]

In April 2006, Jeb Corliss attempted to BASE jump off the observation deck of the Empire State Building, while wearing a camera, but was restrained by building security and arrested by the NYPD. As a result, Corliss received three years probation and 100 hours community service,^[2] which was at one point overturned by a Manhattan state judge on the basis that Corliss "was experienced and careful enough to jump off a building without endangering his own life or anyone else’s".^[5] This sentence was affirmed in January 2009.^[6] Corliss was later permanently banned from setting foot in the Empire State Building.^[7]

B.A.S.E. Jumping Related Accidents[link]

1999[link]

In 1999, Jeb Corliss had a near-fatal BASE jump into the Howick Falls, a waterfall in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The waterfall is approximately 95 meters in height (310 feet) and lies on the Umgeni River. The Zulu people called the falls KwaNogqaza, which means "Place of the Tall One". His chute opening was asymmetric and he could not avoid flying into the downpouring water.

2012[link]

On 16 January 2012 in an accident while proximity flying off Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa Jeb broke both ankles, three toes, his fibula bone, tore his left ACL, and sustained a gash in his shin that required skin grafts to close. He struck his legs approximately halfway between the hip and knee on a rock ledge he was attempting to skim over while aiming at a target balloon. The impact caused him to tumble forward one revolution before he regained control in order to clear some additional ledges. He then deployed his chute. He was airlifted out by the Red Cross Air Mercy Service Agusta 119. He has recovered, is up and walking and plans to return to life as usual. A video of the accident has been released. ^[8][9]

References[link]

• Corliss is featured in the last chapter of Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them, by Michael Abrams. ISBN 1-4000-5491-5.
• Hutchinson, Bill (April 28, 2006). "Been there, leaped off that". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/412843p-349081c.html. Retrieved 2007-01-18. 
• Parachuteless Parachuting
• Flying Humans, Hoping to Land With No Chute - New York Times.

External links[link]

• Jeb Corliss wing-suit demo flights video
• Weekend America - Interview with Jeb Corliss
• Outlawing Creative Subversions
• The Ground is the Limit at the Internet Movie Database
• MySpace
• Daredevils: The Human Bird - Channel 4 (UK) television documentary, 2009
• Grinding the Crack

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Armin van Buuren
Van Buuren performing on Queensday in Amsterdam, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Armin van Buuren
Also known as	Gaia, AVB
Born	(1976-12-25) 25 December 1976 (age 35) Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands[1]
Origin	Koudekerk aan den Rijn, South Holland, Netherlands
Genres	Trance Progressive Trance Uplifting Trance Neo-trance
Occupations	Remixer, Producer, DJ, Composer, Musician, Pianist, Songwriter
Instruments	Synthesizer, drum machine, equalizer, personal computer
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Armada Music (2003–present), Vandit (Co-Joined), Ministry of Sound Australia
Associated acts	Alibi, Dark Matter, Electrix, Lilmotion, Major League, Monsieur Basculant, Red & White, Technology, Triple A, Wodka Wasters, Nadia Ali,[2] Christian Burns,[2] Ferry Corsten,[2] Adam Young,[2] BT,[2] Sophie Ellis-Bextor,[2] Guy Chambers[2]
Website	arminvanbuuren.com

Armin van Buuren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑr.mɪn vɑn ˈby.rə(n)]), OON (born 25 December 1976 in Leiden, Netherlands)^[1] is a Dutch trance producer and DJ. Between 2007 and 2010, he was voted number one in DJ Magazine's annual top 100 list of the most popular DJs.^[1] In the 2011 list, he ranked in second place. Since 2001, Van Buuren has hosted a weekly radio show called A State of Trance, which claims to have around 15 million weekly listeners in 26 countries,^[3] which would make it one of the most listened-to radio shows in the world. His 2008 studio album, Imagine, entered the Dutch album chart at #1, a first for a dance music artist in Dutch music history.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 December 1976,^[1] but grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. Van Buuren started making music when he was 14.^{[citation needed]} He was inspired by French electronic music composer, Jean Michel Jarre, and wished to become a great electronic music composer like Jarre.^{[citation needed]}

He finished high school at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and left for college to study law at Leiden University. While studying law, Van Buuren's interest for making music blossomed, and he began working as a DJ in a local club called Nexus. As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, although he did return to finish law school in 2003.

On 18 September 2009, Van Buuren married Erika van Thiel in Wassenaar, Netherlands. They met during a vacation on Crete, and had been together for nine years prior to the marriage.^[5][6]

On 12 January 2011, Van Buuren announced the pregnancy of his wife Erika on Twitter.^[7] He hoped the baby, due that summer, would be his "best production ever."^[7] Their daughter, Fenna, was born on 24 July 2011.^[8]

Career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

1995–1999: Early career and success[link]

In 1995, Van Buuren had his first major success with a track called "Blue Fear", which was released under the Cyber Records label; he was 19 years old at the time. This track, which was produced in the "Euro Trance" mold, made it onto the UK Chart. Another successful track, "Communication" was released under the same label, and became popular in Ibiza, Spain in the summer of 1999. After being signed to AM PM Records, this track entered the UK Chart at No. 18 in 2000.

Armin van Buuren at Lizard Lounge, Dallas, Texas, 9 August 2008

Van Buuren began his DJ career at club Nexus in Leiden, where he learned to play long DJ sets, which were regularly six to seven hours per set.^[9] During school holidays he played more than four times a week. In 1999, he met Dave Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in England and the United States.^[9] His career accelerated, entering the DJ magazine Top-100 in November 2001 at Number 27.^[9] He has played in more than 25 different countries and can often be found on the main stage at big summer festivals. Van Buuren played a record-breaking twelve and a half hour set for Dancetheater in The Hague (the Netherlands).^[10][11] In the United Kingdom he performs regularly at Passion (resident 2002), Godskitchen, Gatecrasher, Slinky, Ministry of Sound, Peach and Golden.

In the beginning of 1999, Van Buuren started his label Armind together with United Recordings. The first release, Gig – "One," was well received. The second release "Touch Me," under the name Rising Star was signed to Ministry of Sound in the UK, before the record was released.

By the time of his third release, Gimmick – "Free" was signed to R&S Records, Van Buuren had managed to make his label popular very quickly. Under the surname Gaia he released "4 Elements" on Captivating Sounds, a sub-label of Warner Brothers. Teaming up with Tiësto, two new projects were born: Major League – "Wonder Where You Are?" was released on Black Hole Recordings and Alibi – "Eternity" was released on Armind. "Eternity" received club and chart success and was signed to Paul van Dyk's imprint Vandit Records. Another major collaboration followed this. Together with Ferry Corsten, Van Buuren recorded a riff-classic titled "Exhale" for the System F. album. Released as a single, this track reached gold status in less than a month.

[edit] 2000–2004: A State of Trance and 76

In 2000, Van Buuren started his own Armin van Buuren compilation series. He managed to find a balance between progressive house,and vocal trance music styles. His first compilation album, A State of Trance (not to be confused with his weekly A State of Trance radio shows), sold more than 10,000 copies and contains Van Buuren's well known remix of Moogwai, "Viola." His second album, Basic Instinct featured a new track: "Perpetuous Dreamer" – "The Sound of Goodbye." This track entered the Dutch charts in June 2001 at number 26. Later in the year, the track hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The third album, In Motion was released 6 August 2001. This album contained the real trance sound and was very popular in the United States. A fourth album, Transparence, followed in 2002. In 2003, he worked with such artists such as DJ Seth Alan Fannin throughout a global tour on Dance Revolution in Europe, selling out to crowds of 20,000 people in Armin's home country of the Netherlands.

In March 2001, Van Buuren started his own radio show on ID&T Radio (traditionally broadcast in Dutch and later English since ASOT 183). In this weekly two-hour show, entitled A State of Trance, he plays the latest popular trance music tracks. His show and the artists he features are popularized by publishing the artists and track titles on his website. This radio-show/website combination has proven popular internationally. When ID&T Radio changed genres in 2004, Van Buuren left and took A State of Trance with him. The show then moved to Fresh FM, a Dutch radio station. It is now a weekly feature on SLAM!FM, another Dutch radio station, DI.FM, an online radio station, and on XM Satellite Radio, channel 80 in the United States and Canada. A complete list of stations that broadcast A State of Trance can be found at the ASOT section of Armin's website. Also in 2004, Van Buuren remixed the 24 theme song into a trance hit. In June 2005, the 200th episode was celebrated in Amsterdam and subsequently aired on radio. The 250th (eight hour) anniversary episode was celebrated in Club Asta in The Hague, Netherlands, featuring Van Buuren, Jonas Steur, M.I.K.E., John Askew, Rank 1 and Menno de Jong.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, he had a residency at Glow in Washington D.C.,^[9] and he has played all across North America in San Francisco, Vancouver, Houston, Toronto, Boston, Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago, Montreal, Detroit, Edmonton, Atlanta, Austin, Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Seattle and at The Necto (nightclub). He has also regularly appeared at Amnesia on the island of Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain. In October that year, Van Buuren was voted Number 5 in the DJ Magazine 100 top DJ's. The following year, he jumped up to the No. 3 spot, and held 3rd place for the next three years. His work left him at the No. 2 spot, just below Paul van Dyk in the 2006 polls, and, in 2007, Armin reached #1, heading the 2007 DJ Mag Top 100. He was voted No. 1 again in 2008, 2009 and again in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2003, Van Buuren released his debut studio album, 76, a 76-minute album divided into 13 tracks.^[12]

Armin Van Buuren performing at Avalon, Boston, Massachusetts 2007

[edit] 2005–present: Shivers, Imagine and Mirage

On 8 August 2005, Van Buuren released his second studio album, Shivers. On the album Van Buuren worked with artists such as Pakistani-American singer Nadia Ali, English singer Justine Suissa and American trance duo Gabriel & Dresden.

On 11 November 2006, he had a live performance called Armin Only in Ahoy Rotterdam for the second time (after 12 November 2005) with a nine hour solo set, where he performed to over 11,000 fans.

In the summer of 2007, Van Buuren recorded and released a live set at Amnesia, Ibiza. Universal Religion Chapter 3, Live from Amnesia at Ibiza was released on 28 September 2007 as a mix compilation on Armada Records and in the US as "Universal Religion 2008" on Ultra Records on 4 December 2007.

On 17 April 2008, Van Buuren released his third studio album, Imagine. It features collaboration with singers such as Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation and Jacqueline Govaert of Krezip. The album debuted at number one on the Dutch Albums Chart. Since the release of Imagine, Van Buuren has been working with Benno de Goeij and DJ-RA of Rank 1 on solo productions and remixes.^{[citation needed]}

19 April 2008 saw the 3rd edition of Armin Only, this time in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, Netherlands. The event was attended by 16,000 fans and (partly) broadcast live on Dutch National TV. During the second half of 2008, Van Buuren took this show abroad, with visits to Australia, Romania, Poland, Belgium, and a special New Years Eve 2008 show at Together As One in Los Angeles, U.S.

On 29 September 2008, Armin won the DJ Award for "Best Trance DJ" at Ibiza along with other nominees, that of Tiësto, Ferry Corsten and Paul van Dyk.

On 12 January 2008, Van Buuren was given the "Buma Cultuur Pop Award," the most prestigious Dutch music award.

In 2009, Foreign Media Games announced the production of In The Mix: Featuring Armin van Buuren, a music game being produced in collaboration with Cloud 9 Music and Van Buuren's Armada Music label. The title is scheduled to be released sometime in 2010 exclusively for the Wii console.^[13]

He has collaborated with his brother, guitarist Eller van Buuren, in such venues as Together As One in Los Angeles, U.S., on New Year's Eve 2009, as well as on Armin's 2008 album Imagine.

On 3 March 2010, Van Buuren was awarded with the prestigious Golden Harp, for his musical work and contribution to Dutch music, by the music collecting society BUMA/STEMRA at the 2010 Buma Harpen Gala in Hilversum, the Netherlands.^[14][15]

On 23 June 2010, it was announced that Van Buuren's fourth studio album, Mirage was due to be released on 10 September.^[16] The first single "Full Focus", was released through iTunes Store on 24 June at midnight.^[17] The song peaked at number sixty in the Netherlands. One of the confirmed tracks from the album is a collaboration with English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor called Not Giving Up On Love, which was released as a single from Bextor's fourth studio album, Make a Scene.^[18][19] Armin also wrote a song for English singer Seal, but due to the release of his greatest hits album, Hits, the collaboration never came together.^[20]

On 12 September 2010, Van Buuren launched "A State of Sundays", a new weekly 24-hour radio show aired on Sirius XM Radio ^[21]

On 20 October 2010, Van Buuren won the award for Most Popular International DJ presented by The Golden Gnomes.^[22]

On 27 October 2010, Van Buuren was announced, for the 4th year running, as the number 1 DJ, and thus prolonging his title as 'Most Popular DJ in the World'.^[23]

The 2010 edition of Armin Only: Mirage kicked off on 13 November 2010, in Utrecht, Netherlands, with more shows coming in Saint-Petersburg, Kiev, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Beirut, Poznań, Moscow and Bratislava .^[24]

On 27 November 2010, Van Buuren made his third appearance in Shanghai, China.

On 2 February 2012, Van Buuren mentioned a new studio album in the works on episode #546 of his radio show, "A State Of Trance".

A State of Trance 500 (ASOT 500)[link]

To mark the 10 year anniversary and 500th episode of his weekly radio show A State of Trance, Van Buuren performed at five shows across five continents over five consecutive weeks along with various artists.

The first show was held on 19 March 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa at the MTN Expo Center. In addition to Armin, Blake Jarrell, Protoculture, Lange, Leon Bolier, and Jorn van Deynhoven were performers. Super8 & Tab were to be part of the South African show, however a flight cancellation caused them to be absent for the event. The event was attended by over 20,000 people.

Miami's show was performed at the Ultra Music Festival on 27 March, and part of the show were Marcus Schossow, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Cosmic Gate, Gareth Emery, Ferry Corsten, ATB, and Sander van Doorn.

Argentina held the third celebration of ASOT 500 in club G.E.B.A Buenos Aires, with Heatbeat, Jochen Miller, Dash Berlin, Markus Schulz, John O'Callaghan and W & W. It was the only of the five ASOT 500 celebrations that was held outdoors. Van Buuren recorded a live video with his cell phone and uploaded it to Twitter while playing his live set.

ASOT 500 was celebrated in the Netherlands in Den Bosch. Accompanied by more than 30 DJs from countries all over the world, the event was attended by over 30,000 people. DJs present included Markus Schulz, Gareth Emery, Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold and Sean Tyas. The event was radio broadcast live to over 30 countries.^{[25][dated info]}

The final show was held in Sydney, Australia on 16 April at Acer Arena in Olympic Park. It was a sold out event weeks before the night. Artists present included Shogun, tyDi, Menno de Jong, Aly & Fila, and Alex M.O.R.P.H. Van Buuren played for three hours.

A State of Trance 550 (ASOT 550)[link]

In March 2012, Van Buuren performed in six shows across three continents as part of ASOT 550. He began his tour on March 1 in London, continued on to Moscow on March 7, and to Kiev, Ukraine on March 10. Then, he traveled to the United States to host his show at the Beyond Wonderland festival in Southern California. A week later on March 25, he closed out Ultra Music Festival 2012 for the 5th edition. This was followed by the final show in the Brabanthallen of Den Bosch, the Netherlands.

A State of Trance sponsored a tent at the Electric Daisy Carnival at Met Life stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 19, 2012, which by all accounts could be considered an unofficial extension of ASOT 550. ^[26]

Discography[link]

• 76 (2003)
• Shivers (2005)
• Imagine (2008)
• Mirage (2010)

Year Mixes[link]

Van Buuren is well known for his annual "Year Mix" which incorporates clips and custom mashups from the year's most popular trance tracks. Each year-mix consists of about 85 individual releases, edited into a two hour mix which is released on double CD as well as aired on his weekly radio show at the end of each year. According to Van Buuren, each year-mix takes several months to make, including thousands of digital audio edits and hundreds of audio plugins.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Armin van Buuren

• Official website
• Artist Page on ArmadaMusic.com
• Armin van Buuren on Myspace
• Armin van Buuren at Allmusic
• Armin van Buuren discography at Discogs
• Armin van Buuren discography at MusicBrainz
• Armin van Buuren at the Internet Movie Database
• Armin van Buuren's profile on Trancepedia
• Armada Music – the record label of Armin van Buuren
• Armin van Buuren – A State of Trance episodes
• *Flowd - artist channel on *Flowd network.