The judges give points to all the pictures, without knowing which is made by who.
I tally up the points, and the average scores are then all compared, and the 10 highest scores go on to the finals. In this case we even had 12 highest scores, with 3 entries ending up with a same score. And these outcomes are not up for discussion. If you can't be a good sport about it, then don't enter, since you might not be picked.
It's not about quality alone, or else it would be unfair to those with less good pc's. It's also about composition, and what is captured and how. Your picture might have a nice sunset, but on the other hand, the ship is very dark and not really standing out as such, I can presume that has been a factor, perhaps. Jim's picture is in that respect, very different from yours. Just happens to be the same ship. Just cause you have a nice sunset doesn't mean you'll win or reach the final.
This attitude can be done without, to be honest, mate.
Fred.
