can anyone tell me how fast yew will grow

I would not leave in water for more than 10 - 20 minutes. Do that a couple of times a day if you cannot plant them immediately, and leave them in a dark / cool place - back of the garage for example. Do not include any fertiliser in the water - but putting some bonemeal in the bottom of the planting trench will help, or apply some granular fertiliser around the plants after planting (but keep it away from the stems of the plant, which may otherwise get "burnt" by the fertiliser)

Its late to be planting bare root (but not too late). Bare root planted Nov-Feb is best, once you get to the end of March you have to worry about the weather in April being a) warm and b) windy which causes them to dry out. make sure they are well watered during any dry spells in their first year.

Yew will grow 12" per year (maybe not the first year after planting). I would let them grow 6"-12" beyond their desired height, then cut 6" below the desired height, then they will bush-up at the top, and thereafter you can trim them. Lightly clip the sides to shape - i.e. anything growing wider than you want. It will take a few years for them to thicken up - clipping 3 or 4 times a year will help - i.e. not allowing anything much to grow outside the final width that you want