Patent ID: 8899612

Claim:
A sports article adapted to cooperate with a boot, said sports article comprising: a sports apparatus comprising at least one positioning mechanism; a lateral guide element for cooperation with a rear portion of the boot, the lateral guide element being structured and arranged to be affixed to a top surface of the sports apparatus, the lateral guide element comprising: at least one complementary positioning mechanism cooperating with the at least one positioning mechanism of the sports apparatus, the at least one positioning mechanism of the sports apparatus constituting at least one associated positioning mechanism, in order to re-position the lateral guide element on the sports apparatus; one of the at least one complementary positioning mechanism being structured and arranged to facilitate a selective longitudinal positioning of the lateral guide element on the sports apparatus in either of a first longitudinal position and a second longitudinal position by cooperating with a single one of the at least one said associated positioning mechanism, the lateral guide element being structured and arranged to cooperate with, and to guide, a rear portion of the boot in both of the first and second longitudinal positions; the second longitudinal position of the lateral guide element constituting a 180° rotation of the lateral guide element in relation to an axis of rotation perpendicular to the top surface of the sports apparatus with respect to the first longitudinal position of the lateral guide element; and a guiding zone that is lengthwise asymmetrical with respect to the axis of rotation for movement between the first and second positions; the guiding zone having an effective guiding length extending between a first end and a second end; a distance between the first end and the axis of rotation being a shorter length, and a distance between the second end and the axis of rotation being a longer length; a ratio between the shorter length and the longer length being between 50% and 75%.