If you have a tail wind on RWY 8 than there is no sense going
aloft for there is no ridge lift. Maybe you are talking about Mr.
Bills whose rules change like my wife's furniture.

There are other reasons to go aloft than to find ridge lift (or
any lift for that matter). Heck, I spent most of my training
circling in sink :P

The point here was that there are operations that take off with
a tailwind, and judgement rather than convention determines when
this is safe.

As far as "must have NOTAM" and "safety reasons," I recall
taking off out of Watsonville a few days before the airshow.
The crossing runway (26-8) had big white Xs and cones on it.
I called Norcal approach and asked about NOTAMS. None (just
like during my standard briefing). Well, I gave them a
PIREP instead...which also mentioned the several closed
taxiways...

If this airport manager really hates gliders that much, I'd
not be surprised if ground crews were "fixing" something
safety critical at inopportune times. Police motorcycle
training (temporary, only Saturdays 10-6) wouldn't be
much of a stretch either. My point was just to be careful
of sneakiness...