New sailor - What are the parts at the base of the mast?

I am a new sailor who completed ASA 101 ~1 month ago. I bought an old cheap 2000 Hobie Cat 17 (HIN: CCMLZ941K900). I do not know what I am doing. Here is a picture of ol' crusty:



This boat did not come with a boom, but it did come with a sail. The sail looks to be an old Whirlwind H17 SuperR Main (https://www.whirlwindsails.com/store/p7 ... _Main.html). The sail has a clew plate with 3 holes on it, at one end of the foot. The other end of the foot has 1 hole for the tack. Due to this, I believe this boat should have a boom and is an SE model, but I am not sure how else to confirm. I will need to figure out how to get a boom...

It does have a mast! Looking at the base of the mast, I am trying to identify what the parts are for. My questions for this forum post are in the below picture, and also pasted below it:



1. What are the metal things with the cam cleats on them, near the base of the mast?

2. What is the metal thing where a pin would go through, at the base of the mast? Is this where a boom would attach?

3. What is the big ovular metal thing for?

From reviewing the manual, for question #2, I do believe that is where the boom attaches. H17 Manual (see page ):

https://media.hobie.com/digital_assets/H17Manual.pdf

I have a 2000 H17Sport i bought in 2002. It appears you have a standard H17.
The difference is the sport has front spreader bar with a jib and boomlet.
The standard has no spreader bar, no jib and a full boom. So you are missing the boom.
I also have the Whirlwind Super R square top sail (actually 2) love them.
To see my boat go to 'Places to Sail' on this forum, The Gap, near the top post

Bottom of the mast has a connection for the boom and 6:1 downhaul (cam cleats). The horizontal pin is a keeper to lock the mast onto the pivit ball on the boat while raising the mast. You remove it once the mast is up.

1. What are the metal things with the cam cleats on them, near the base of the mast?

Upgraded 6:1 downhaul. Cam cleats on each side of the mast allow the downhaul line to be lead out to the wings on each side of the boat so the downhaul can be adjusted when sitting or trapezing from the wing. Note that the “clam” cleat on the mast is the original downhaul cleat and not used with the upgrade.


2. What is the metal thing where a pin would go through, at the base of the mast? Is this where a boom would attach?

Yes, it is the gooseneck fitting used to attach the boom.


3. What is the big ovular metal thing for?

Mast rotation control bar. It is attached with a line to a cleat on the boom. It allows you to limit the amount of mast rotation for better control of sail shape.

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