diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1c9c5ea842a6..41c84a2f763c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ generate-doctoc:
 	TRACE=$(TRACE) ./hack/generate-doctoc.sh
 
 .PHONY: generate-e2e-templates
-generate-e2e-templates: $(KUSTOMIZE) $(addprefix generate-e2e-templates-, v1.0 v1.4 v1.5 main) ## Generate cluster templates for all versions
+generate-e2e-templates: $(KUSTOMIZE) $(addprefix generate-e2e-templates-, v1.0 v1.5 v1.6 main) ## Generate cluster templates for all versions
 
 DOCKER_TEMPLATES := test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker
 INMEMORY_TEMPLATES := test/e2e/data/infrastructure-inmemory
@@ -540,16 +540,16 @@ INMEMORY_TEMPLATES := test/e2e/data/infrastructure-inmemory
 generate-e2e-templates-v1.0: $(KUSTOMIZE)
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.0/cluster-template --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.0/cluster-template.yaml
 
-.PHONY: generate-e2e-templates-v1.4
-generate-e2e-templates-v1.4: $(KUSTOMIZE)
-	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.4/cluster-template --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.4/cluster-template.yaml
-	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.4/cluster-template-topology --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.4/cluster-template-topology.yaml
-
 .PHONY: generate-e2e-templates-v1.5
 generate-e2e-templates-v1.5: $(KUSTOMIZE)
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.5/cluster-template --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.5/cluster-template.yaml
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.5/cluster-template-topology --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.5/cluster-template-topology.yaml
 
+.PHONY: generate-e2e-templates-v1.6
+generate-e2e-templates-v1.6: $(KUSTOMIZE)
+	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.6/cluster-template --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.6/cluster-template.yaml
+	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.6/cluster-template-topology --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/v1.6/cluster-template-topology.yaml
+
 .PHONY: generate-e2e-templates-main
 generate-e2e-templates-main: $(KUSTOMIZE)
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template.yaml
diff --git a/docs/release/release-tasks.md b/docs/release/release-tasks.md
index dd6fa9ee6496..4794d8af14b1 100644
--- a/docs/release/release-tasks.md
+++ b/docs/release/release-tasks.md
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ Prior art:
 
 * 1.4 - https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api/pull/7692/files
 * 1.5 - https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api/pull/8430/files
+* 1.6 - https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api/pull/9097/files
 
 #### Create a new GitHub milestone for the next release
 
diff --git a/hack/tools/internal/tilt-prepare/main.go b/hack/tools/internal/tilt-prepare/main.go
index 9b914ed68621..aa3ed4592113 100644
--- a/hack/tools/internal/tilt-prepare/main.go
+++ b/hack/tools/internal/tilt-prepare/main.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ const (
 
 var (
 	// Defines the default version to be used for the provider CR if no version is specified in the tilt-provider.yaml|json file.
-	defaultProviderVersion = "v1.6.99"
+	defaultProviderVersion = "v1.7.99"
 
 	// This data struct mirrors a subset of info from the providers struct in the tilt file
 	// which is containing "hard-coded" tilt-provider.yaml files for the providers managed in the Cluster API repository.