After months of speculation, on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron was advised that the Royal Malta Yacht Club officially withdrawing the Malta Altus Challenge from the 36th America's Cup.

"This is a disappointing outcome," CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, Grant Dalton, said at the time.

"The Malta Altus Challenge had a strong foundation with some highly experienced and reputable America's Cup personnel linked to the team. So, for them to pull out is not just a shame for the event but also for those people that have worked so hard trying to get this challenge to the start line.

"We hope they will continue to build on their foundation over the next 18 months with a view to the future and challenging for the 37th America's Cup".

"We are wanting the Prada Cup to include as many teams as possible," Laurent Esquier CEO of the Challenger of Record, said.

"While we have done all we can to support the Malta Altus Challenge, they haven't been able to bring together all the layers of complexity that are needed to continue with an America's Cup challenge. We are still guaranteed to have an exciting and highly competitive Prada Cup to select the final challenger to race against Emirates Team New Zealand in the match."

It has been suggested that the insistence of Emirates Team New Zealand to produce yet another design for this edition, and moving away from the popular and functional catamarans in the previous America's Cup has put extra strain on challengers to raise enough funds to mount a significant challenge.

The two remaining late challengers, Stars and Stripes USA and DutchSail will confirm their ongoing commitment to the 36th America's Cup by July 1.

Both remaining Late Challenge teams are believed to be using a basic AC75 design from Emirates Team New Zealand, which significantly reduces the lead-time to launch an AC75 race boat.

Following INEOS Team UK's T5 and NYYC American Magic's The Mule, Italian team Luna Rossa have launched their first test boat and have started training on the waters of Cagliari in Sardinia, their home base.

According to Luna Rossa, their test boat is able to fly consistently on the water with three sailors onboard.

Meanwhile, testing is going ahead with the structural integrity of the one design AC75 foil arms revaluated at Persico Marine in Italy during May.

Comprehensive tests were undertaken over three days, with more than 100 different load cycles applied to the foil arm. It was the final step in the foil arm design and construction process led by Luna Rossa Challenge. The focus can now turn towards completing the production of the foil arms before they are distributed to the teams, in preparation for the respective launches of their AC75s in the coming months.

The first AC75s are expected to be launched in July-August 2019 in New Zealand, US, Italy and Great Britain.

The ultimate crossover, the Caraboat has attracted its fair share of strange looks from even the most discerning boat buyers.

Caraboat combines a boat hull with the exterior and space of caravan. It solves the problem of whether to bring a caravan or boat on holidays. Caraboat is 7.5-metres in length with a beam of 2.5-metres, making it possible to tow.

The Caraboat was conceived from the years of building and owning large boats and getting tired of the constant upkeep and expense that they require; and also there limitations for exploring inland waters and rivers," explains Andrew Kiernan from Caraboats. "Over the last 5 years we have developed the Caraboat into what we believe is the best trailable houseboat on market with plenty thought put into what you need to live comfortably on the water or land and looks great as well."

Based in Lemon Tree Passage, the company just debuted their second model, the 870, which has been well received. It has a large rear deck and access to the roof for storage or sunbathing.

The 870 also features large windows to create on open feeling and plenty of natural light.

The Interior is designed for comfortable living with large gallery bench space, opposing seating in the rear for socialising.