Packer freed from jail, but confined to boat

Denpasar, Bali - Australian champion yachtsman Christopher Packer has been released from prison in Bali after three months in custody for firearms offences.

Packer, who built masts for New Zealand's 1995 America's Cup-winning team, said he would be celebrating on his boat.

Beaming and dressed in shorts and a white polo shirt, Packer was accompanied by his girlfriend Gianna Maria Botto and two defence lawyers as he left Denpasar's notorious Kerobokan prison.

He got into a black four-wheel drive and headed for his converted freighter Lissa, which has been impounded at Bali's Benoa harbour since his arrested last November.

Arriving at the harbour, Packer relaxed with a can of VB beer and a glass of Australian white wine with his lawyer Mohammad Rifan, but said nothing about his immediate plans.

He said he would have to stay on board his 55m vessel for the meantime, as his Indonesian visa had run out and he was unable to celebrate his release on shore.

"It's almost free. It suits me fine," he said.

Denpasar District Court yesterday handed the millionaire Sydney to Hobart and Admiralty Cup sailor a three-month sentence for failing to declare a stash of firearms.

With time served, he was due for release tomorrow.

Judges also ordered the return of Lissa and his weapons, which Packer said he kept to fend off pirate attacks.

The court decided Packer, 52, of Peppermint Grove in Perth, had not been a gun runner - an offence carrying the death penalty.

Packer was on a round-the-world cruise when he was stopped by Indonesian marine police last November as he attempted to leave Indonesian waters.

Police impounded Lissa to inspect it for drugs and firearms after receiving a tip-off from an informer, believed to be a disgruntled former crewman employed by Packer.

They found around 2,700 rounds of ammunition and six New Zealand-registered firearms, including a Ruger semi-automatic rifle, two pump-action shotguns, a revolver and automatic pistol, and an antique rifle.

Packer said he could not say when he would leave Bali.

"The boat is ready. As soon as the crew all arrive and the paperwork is all done and the guns are returned, any time," he said.

Asked if there was anything he would miss about his former prison home, he said only the regular tennis matches with the inmates.

He thanked his family for their support.

- AAP