John Bain 73 ft Twin Screw Ketch Motorsailer 1964/2017

The John Bain / James N. Miller ketch motorsailer WILD VENTURE has huge personality and presence, rather like the Olympic gold medal winning horse she is named after. Some boats in the anchorage have to try hard - WILD VENTURE certainly does not! She has cruised in current ownership from Istanbul in the east to the Canary Islands in the west - mostly two-up - and is ready for more of the same. Or she would make a wonderful mothership for a classic racing yacht programme. In our view WILD VENTURE is a class act.

- Under supervision of highly qualified and respected Naval engineer
- (who was the last Shipwright in the Royal Navy)
- Garboard planks refastened (2017)
- Deck fully recaulked and refastened with new bungs
- Some deck planks replaced; some repaired
- The marine plywood subdeck was found to be sound
- Modernising the general arrangement
- Updating all systems
- New Onan genset
- Rewiring and replumbing
- Fitting new Corian galley
- New watermaker
- New fresh water flush electric toilets

JAMES N. MILLER & SONS LTD YARD NO. 897
Launched Monday April 27th 1964

After nearly forty years of driving James A. Silver Ltd. of Rosneath with design flair, clever marketing, and business acumen to an almost dominant position among British motor yacht builders, John Bain ‘retired’ in 1957 aged 70 – but only from the multitasking responsibilities and demands involved in every aspect of a busy production boatyard.

Thus liberated, Bain continued independently through his 70s to design motor yachts and motorsailers for building by a select list of British boatbuilders; some of his best work emerged during this late period. A particularly strong relationship developed with the James N. Miller yard at St. Monans in the County of Fife, so much so that Bain lived nearby for a period in the 1960s.

Of particular note at this time were three superb motorsailers: two of them built by Miller and very similar in appearance: LYNARA II (63 ft, 1961) and WILD VENTURE (73 ft, 1964); the third boat, ENGLANDER (57 ft), was launched at Upnor, Kent in 1971.

These were among the most voluminous of Bain’s designs, WILD VENTURE for example sporting almost 1.5 feet more beam and carrying if further fore and aft than a similar length Silver ‘Orimidale’ Type of ten years earlier. They carry terrific, even unique personality, particularly enhanced by a beautifully proportioned ketch rig offering sail assistance for efficiency, and steadying both under way and at anchor.

WILD VENTURE was commissioned by 53-year-old Staffordshire meat products wholesaler and retailer, Edward ‘Ted’ Marsh, a member of the Royal Anglesey Yacht Club at Beaumaris, Wales, which would be her first home mooring. Marsh was also a prominent eventing horse owner/ trainer/ rider and WILD VENTURE is named after his most successful gelding, winner of a team gold medal at the 1956 Stockholm Equestrian Olympics, ridden by Major Laurence Rook, MC.

WILD VENTURE, the yacht, was launched by Mrs Phyllis Marsh at St Monans on Monday April 27th 1964. After trials on the Firth of Forth courting a fair amount of publicity – she was one of the largest yachts built on the Firth since the Victorian and Edwardian days of steam yachts – she sailed for Beaumaris and presumably a quieter life. But it wasn’t to be.

By August WILD VENTURE hit the national news when she was stolen from her Beaumaris mooring by two south coast of England ‘youths’ aged 14 and 16 in a pre-meditated escapade (prompted by the aforementioned publicity), and ‘disappeared’. The well-connected Mr Marsh managed to arrange a combined forces air, sea, and even submarine search, but WILD VENTURE was eventually arrested and boarded by crew from the British Railways Irish Sea packet steamer SLIEVE MORE. When questioned, the 'youths' claimed they were planning a voyage to South Africa.

Ted Marsh kept WILD VENTURE until 1976 when ownership transferred to Macclesfield bulk road transport contractor and experience motorsailer owner Reginald Henry Stevens. She remained at least initially North Wales based at Holyhead.

All we presently know about the ensuing years is that Stevens owned WILD VENTURE into the 1980s, and she eventually found her way to the Mediterranean. There is an unconfirmed story of possible ownership by UK TV personality Hughie Green, an experienced motor yachtsman. WILD VENTURE was moored for a period at Antibes, but when her berth was sold from under her she moved to Almería, south east Spain, where her present owner found her in 2009.

She has subsequently enjoyed two major refits and long periods of short-handed cruising as far east as Istanbul and west as the Canary Islands. All of which WILD VENTURE takes in her stride, just like her ‘off-road’ equestrian namesake.

©2026 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd.

Built under Lloyd's Register supervision to ✠100A1 Classification
- In Class until discontinued by second owner in 1976
- Teak underbody planking
- Mahogany topsides planking
- silicon bronze screw fastened to oak frames
- Canadian rock elm intermediate ribs
- copper clench fastened
- Garboard planks refastened 2017
- Oak wood keel
- Oak floors
- Teak stem and transom
- Teak superstructures
- Painted fibreglass over marine plywood roofs
- Original laid teak deck on marine plywood substrate
- Large bronze rudder

GENERAL
- Teak laid deck (on marine plywood substrate)
- Teak superstructures
- Waist-high painted galvanised stanchions with teak rails
- Hatches fitted with laminated tinted armoured glass
- Substantial deck bollards
- Massive teak cleats
- 12 x Mushroom vents
- Panama fairleads

FROM AFT

AFT DECK
- Full width (cavernous) lazarette locker
- Hatch over master cabin
- 2 x Cable drums with 130 m of floating 30 mm line

WHEELHOUSE/DECKHOUSE
- Hatch to wheelhouse
- Sliding door to port side of wheelhouse
- Sliding windows aft and starboard sides of wheelhouse
- 4 x Vent cowls to engine room; 2 x mushroom vents
- Stainless steel main boom crutch
- Teak and chromed bronze grab rails port & starboard wheelhouse

FOREDECK
- Butterfly hatch over galley
- Gas locker starboard for 3 x 15 kg cylinders
- remote solenoid control
- Deck locker port for anchoring hardware/ winch handles
- Anchor points for 2 x tenders
- 5 x Deck prisms to augment lighting in galley and forepeak
- Forehatch access to forepeak
- 2 x Chromed bronze Highfield levers for inner forestay control

GROUND TACKLE & ASSOCIATED
- Smallwood hydraulic anchor windlass (original and very powerful)
- 2 x 100 kg DaHone HHP anchors (2016)
- 110 m and 30 m heavy gauge chain respectively (1 m chain = 10 kg)
- 2 x 2000 w Lewmar capstans mounted on poop deck
- 1 x 90 kg Kedge anchor
- High pressure seawater switchable deck/anchor wash

3 CABIN LAYOUT:

WHEELHOUSE
- Dedicated chart table
- Main steering compass
- Mathway Marine mechanical steering
- Dedicated chart storage under raised seating area
- Vetus wiper control
- Twin air horns
- Black water pump out control
- Start battery monitors
- Onan genset smart controller
- LED Searchlight, operated from inside
- Fishing rod holders

DECK SALOON
- Separate seating and work areas
- Leather seat coverings
- Oceanair blinds on all windows
- Toughened glass with UV protective film
- Built- in large screen computer
- dedicated navigation and weather applications
- 240 V/ 24 V Drinks fridge/ freezer
- Extensive storage
- Varnished white oak flooring

GALLEY DINETTE
- Expansive white Corian galley; matt varnished white oak flooring
- 3 x Sinks
- 240 V Fridge and 2 x freezers
- Gas and electric induction cooking hob
- remote gas solenoid control
- Washer/ dryer
- Dishwasher
- 900 W Bosch microwave
- Bosch grill/ convection/ fan oven
- Under sink garbage disposal unit
- Automatic internal 24 V lighting to all lockers
- Red lighting option for night use
- Custom glass/ crockery/ cutlery locker
- Extensive storage
- 240 V/ 24 V Main electrical panel
- Watermaker control
- Genset start/ stop control
- Battery monitoring system
- Victron digital multi control
- Height adjustable white oak table
- converts to daybed for relaxed cinema/TV indulgence
- Leather seat coverings
- High performance 5:1 sound surround a/v system with 55” Sony TV
- Wi fi network extender

FOREPEAK
- Expandable double to starboard
- 2 x Single bunks to port
- Small seating area
- Deck access via hatch
- Matt varnished white oak flooring
- Extensive storage
- En-suite heads and shower wet room

AFT ACCOMMODATION
- Double bunk guest cabin
- Day heads across corridor
Master cabin
- Lifting double berth
- Hanging and drawer lockers
- Extensive storage
- Separate en suite heads
- Shower and bath wet room
- Access to tiller flat, steering gear, and additional bosun's store

RIG
- Bermudan ketch
- Wood mainmast, mizzen mast and booms
- All standing rigging replaced 2009
- Rigging survey Jan 2022: maintained/ replaced as required
- Running rigging stored below when not in use; all renewed 2022
- 1 x 3000 w Harken 70.2 ST/E HY self-tailing mainmast winch
- 4 x Harken self-tailing winches (2 jib, 2 mizzen mast)
- 2 x Gibb chromed bronze mainsheet winches
- 2 x Bronze main mast winches
- All Harken blocks
- Spinlock jammers

SAILS
- By UK Sails, offshore specification (2022)
- Sail area: 1480 sq ft (not including riding sails)
- Mainsail
- Mizzen
- Anchoring mizzen
- Headsail
- Asymmetric spinnaker (unused)
- 2 x Small riding sails set on the split backstays at anchor

CANVASWORK
- Custom aft deck awning
- Covers for:
- tenders
- windlass
- winches
- hatches
- aft deck table

OTHER
- Boom crane
- can be rigged on either main or mizzen mast

ENGINE ROOM
- 240 V and 24 V lighting with red light night option
- 24 V High capacity forced air ventilation
- through 2 x deck mounted funnels
- 4 x Ventilation funnels from deck saloon roof
- 2 x Deck vents to side of deck saloon superstructure

MECHANICAL
- 2 x Gardner 6L3B 175 hp handed engines
- 1068 hours each since 2009
- Flo-net fuel flow meters on both engines
- 2 x 3¼ in bronze shafts
- 2 x 40 in fixed 3-blade Brunton propellors

MECHANICAL / ELECTRICAL
- 12 KVa Onan generator; 1681 hours since 2017

ELECTRICAL
- Fully rewired during 2015-2017 refit
- 240 V, 110 V, 24 V, and 12 V circuits
- 8000 W Victron Quattro inverter charger
- 24/75 Victron Skylla backup charger
- 7000 W Victron Isolation transformer
- 2 x Victron Cyrix isolators/combiners
- 2 x Mastervolt smart regulators
- Bluesea systems 240 V/ 24 V breaker panel
- 110 V inverter

TANKAGE AND ASSOCIATED
Fuel
- 4 x 250 Gal main fuel tanks
- 2 x 250 Gal collapsable Turtlepack deck tanks (for additional diesel)
Water
- 3 x Galvanised water tanks (700 Gals total)
- Schenker Modular 100 (100 L p/h) 24 V watermaker (2017)
- On board carbon and particle water filtration systems

SPARES
- Full Gardner spares pack, largely unused
- including spare exhaust (Lloyd's 100A1 requirement when built)
- Various spares for all systems to enable extended voyaging

NAVIGATION
- Simrad AP70 Autopilot
- Simrad NX40 plotter
- Simrad/Navico 2kW radar
- Simrad IS20 multi instrument
- B&G Triton 2 multi instrument
- Simrad IS20 MHU
- Raymarine ST60 echosouder (backup)
- Garmin GPSMap 276C (backup)
- Autonautic barometer

COMMUNICATIONS
- Simrad RS82 main VHF (mainmast antenna)
- Simrad V5035 Class A AIS (mizzen mast antenna)
- Icom IC M700 HF
- 2x IC M33 and M34 handheld VHF
- Inmarsat Thrane & Thrane Sailor
- Digitalyacht 4G wifi amplifier
- (works up to 12 miles offshore)
- and onboard wifi range extender
- 12 V Communications emergency battery supply
- with independent charger
- Switch/breaker panel for navigation and comms systems

Lifesaving:
- Viking 8-person liferaft with hydrostatic release
- (starboard rail mounted)
- Jonbouy
- (aft rail mounted)
- ACR Global fix Pro EPIRB
- (wheelhouse bulkhead mounted)
Firefighting:
- Fire extinguisher in each cabin and deck saloon
- 2 x Automatic and 1 x manual fire extinguisher in engine room
- Fire blanket on galley/engine room door
- High capacity seawater pump with deck fitting
- (also has anchor wash capability)
- 2 x CO detectors (engine room and outside master cabin)
Bilge Pumping:
- 3 x 24 V Rule 14,000 L p/h high-capacity bilge pumps
- with back up high water alarms
- wired direct to service battery bank with bilge watch sensor
- Bilge watch monitor
- 1 x 240 V Portable emergency bilge pump
- with 20 m x 100 mm diameter flexible piping
Emergency steering
- Galvanised iron tiller stowed in lazarette

- Multiple mooring warps
- Fenders
- Starboard boarding steps
- Port boarding ladder
Tenders:
- 3.0 m Zego Aluminium/ rotomoulded plastic catamaran
- 50 hp Honda outboard motor
- 3.0 m CL Highfield Aluminium RIB
- 20 hp Honda outboard