I've built a lot of wooden boats both scale & Fast electrics.
I've never found it necessary to soak ply to bend it. I have used a heat gun on some ply to help the process. But mostly I just bend it around a 4" pole in my workshop by moving it from side to side while adding pressure.
I will say here though that most of the Hydros that I have built, have been ML Boatworks kits & the ply used had also been bought from them. Blazer marine may use a different grade of aircraft ply, that doesn't bend in the same way.
Bending a ride pad.
Attachment 164817
Experimenting with a piece of scrap to see how far I could bend it.
Attachment 164818
The finished bend
Attachment 164819