HWE - 10 points/second question

Hi All,

This question is for those hard-core experienced HWE competitors.

I understand about the run time of the packing machine and how the process 'loses time' when you cross from one rate/sec up to the next rate/sec, so I'm not questioning this mechanism nor confused by the logic of it.  I'm specifically and only interested in the changes in the timer that usually happen when going from 9 points/second to 10 points/second.

During the most recent HWE (new Fishing variant - FHW), I, for the first time ever, raised my packer to the 10 points per second level.  I had done some careful calculations to plan for reaching the final prize (1.2 mil points).  It would be reachable.  I was running at 9 pts/sec with more than enough run time on the clock to exceed the end of the event.  I calculated though, that I needed to make it to 10 pts/sec for the last five and half hours. The boat with the harvest that would cross me to 10 pts/sec was returning to dock at 5hrs45mins before the end of the event.  Feeling pretty good at this point.

When that boat arrived, before I harvested the load, my packing machine showed approximately 16 hours of run time @ 9 pts/sec.  I knew that when I harvested the Lobsters and crossed into 10 pts/sec that 16 hours run time would drop.  My hope was that the timer wouldn't drop to less than the 5.5 hours I needed to see me to the end of the event.  And, if it did fall slightly short of the event ending, I still had some time to fish up a few more lobsters to extend it to the event ending. 

So, I harvest, and my timer with 16+ hours remaining @ 9 pts/sec drops to only 28 minutes @ 10 pts/sec. 

I had expected a large drop from that 16 hours, but not anything near this large a drop.  My experience through the levels of pts/sec 5 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 8, and 8 to 9 has been that the drop in the timer is usually one-half to two-thirds   This was roughly a 97% drop.  

So, have others who consistently make their way up to 10 points per second in the original HWE found such a precipitous drop in the amount of remaining time on their packer when they crossed that threshold.  Does the 10 pts/sec level always come with just a half hour of time regardless of how much time you had on the clock before you crossed from 9 to 10 pts/sec.  Was this something unusual because the fishing variant allowed such a large amount of time on the clock when I crossed from 9 to 10 pts/sec?

Any insight so that I can plan better in future HWEs & FHWs would be appreciated.

Thanks,
-L