Campbell Patton claimed a bronze medal despite suffering misfortune on the final day of the Sail Sydney regatta in Australia yesterday.

The 22-year-old sailor finished third in the Olympic ILCA 7 class despite being disqualified in the medal race for crossing the start line early.

Patton strayed on to the course prematurely during an intense battle with overnight leader and eventual winner Sam King that ultimately cost him the title, having trailed the Australian by four points heading into the medal race.

“It was a difficult day. It was very interesting as my first-ever medal race with only the top ten competing with double points system and no discards, so it’s really important,” Patton told The Royal Gazette.

“I knew that I had a chance to beat Sam King and take the gold, so I was going for that, and him and I were fighting for position before the start, just jockeying quite aggressively.

“He was coming after me and I wanted to sail a clean race, so I was trying to position myself as far away from him as possible so that I could get off the line and he was trying to slow me down.

“When I started I was sort of still trying to get away from him and I was just over the line slightly at go, which was a shame because it was a great start and so it would have been a great race.

“They [race officials] pulled me out of the race. I wasn’t able to sail it and was immediately disqualified, which I was very disappointed with.

“However, I am still very happy to be on the podium and hopefully this medal-race experience will be valuable going into further big events where I am hopefully qualifying for medal races again.

“Definitely some good lessons learnt, happy to be on the podium and hopefully the next one is gold.”

Among those congratulating Patton on his achievement was the Bermuda Sailing Association.

“The Bermuda Sailing Association congratulates Campbell on his solid performance and podium finish at Sail Sydney,” association president Somers Cooper said. “His bronze medal should give him great confidence as he prepares to tackle the Australian Nationals on the lead up to the World Championships at the same venue.”

Patton’s misfortune on Sydney Harbour saw him slip from second to third, paving the way for Aussie Isaac Schotte to claim the silver.

Hosted by Woollahra Sailing Club, Sail Sydney is regarded as one of Australia's premier regattas for dinghies​, skiffs, foiling multihulls and windsurfing.