Ernesto Bertarelli, whose Alinghi sailing team retained the America’s Cup in July, wants Oracle’s Larry Ellison, his arch sailing enemy, to pick up the phone and bring to an end their dispute over the next edition of sport’s oldest trophy before it heads for a bloody court battle.

“It would be nice if he gave me a call for a change,” said Mr Bertarelli, the Swiss billionaire who last September sold Serono, the Bertarelli family’s pharmaceutical group, to Merck in a €10.6bn ($14.7bn) deal.