The Beaufort Wind Force Scale was first introduced in 1806, and served to standardize centuries of nautical traditions and individual rules of thumb that would have been second nature to sea captains like Henry Hudson in 1609.
When we study wind speed in depth for research projects, we often simultaneously compare wind speeds on deck and at the mast tops. Our findings during these experiments indicate that the wind is consistently stronger at higher elevations.
This would have come as no surprise to the shipwrights who constructed the original Half Moon in 1608; after all, top sails are desined specifically to harness those higher, more powerful gusts.