Someone should be on the boat, so when the captive ball pin is inserted, he/she can raise and steady the mast while it's being cranked up. May be the EZ step system steady's the mast from side to side?
Someone should be holding the mast about the hounds, arms over their head, while the pin is being inserted and the mast raised.

whoa there,

Were those pics of your new boat. I didn't notice any bends of significance in the front, or rear beam.
Hard to notice in pics though.

The 6.0 mast, in nearly all instances, needs to be raised/lowered with the mast rotated 90 degrees, so that the captive ball mast base won't hit and break things, or get broken itself. Usually, the area that holds the pin in to keep it captive on the ball gets broke if not rotated.

Can you tell us more about the front crossbar bend. Like where on the bar exactly, what might have caused it perhaps. I'm sure we can tell if it's going to be a big problem or not. Tell us more about this please.