There are potential ambiguities in the language used. Considering a specific example like this allows us to establish whether we are disagreeing about the physics itself or just using different words. I get the impression that we are disagreeing on the nature of physics itself. Fred can win.
Does this prove anything if it did, given that winds at altitude and ground level are vastly different?
I didn’t want to dwell on technicalities and hoped ‘uniform’ was sufficient to convey my intended meaning.
Will you at least agree that it is impossible to sail with the boat pointed directly downwind faster than the wind in a conventional sailboat (including racing sailboats)?
Yes.
A sailboat can reach faster than the wind because the mass of the wind is greater than the mass of the sailboat, and the energy in the wind is transferred to the boat.
Hence the applicability of the ‘sailboat’ analogy to the vehicle in question.
There are potential ambiguities in the language used. Considering a specific example like this allows us to establish whether we are disagreeing about the physics itself or just using different words. I get the impression that we are disagreeing on the nature of physics itself. Fred can win.
I didn’t want to dwell on technicalities and hoped ‘uniform’ was sufficient to convey my intended meaning.
Yes.
Hence the applicability of the ‘sailboat’ analogy to the vehicle in question.