TODAY is decision day for heroic south coast sailor Mike Golding as his round the world yacht race dreams remain in the balance.

Having finally docked his damaged Ecover boat in Cape Town on Friday night, his team was spending the weekend making urgent repairs to the mast, which was broken in two places.

The heartbreaking damage was discovered just hours after 46-year-old Mike, from Warsash, had completed the daring rescue of Gosport sailor Alex Thomson.

Despite already losing eight days limping back to port and facing a 48-hour time penalty, Golding has so far refused to rule out making a dramatic return to the Velux 5 Oceans race.

The competition, in which he had been lying in second place before turning back to save Thomson, is the only major challenge Mike has not yet completed in an illustrious sailing career.

Golding had immediately turned his yacht round and sailed 80 miles upwind on hearing his 32-year-old rival had suffered severe damage to his keel and needed to abandon ship After a nervous overnight wait, he completed the treacherous two-hour rescue, plucking his opponent from a life raft in 15ft swells.

Before docking in South Africa he hinted he is far from ready to give up on rejoining the other racers who are making their way to Freemantle, Australia.

"I'm missing the race already," said Golding.

"I enjoy it. Just prior to the rescue we were having some of the most amazing sailing, stressful but extraordinary.

"You could easily get fed up with the cruel nature of the sport, but it is actually the one area of my life that perhaps I am quite optimistic about, something I am able to convince myself every time that we'll be able to avoid next time."

Following assessments of the damage, and discussions with his shore team, Mike is today expected to announce whether he is abandoning his race bid.

Although he has publicly been keeping his options open, Mike's real intentions might have already been revealed by his temporary shipmate.

Writing on his website before the pair reached Cape Town, Thomson said he expected to fly home today, but not alone.