The Kiwis took the silver medal, while the bronze went to Denmark's Jena Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen, who finished fourth in the medal race behind Italy’s Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich.

Spain’s Tamara Echegoyen and Berta Betanzos had also been in contention for a medal going into the finale but ultimately ended up fourth after a seventh-place finish.

New Zealand launched off the left-hand end of the start line, while Brazil got away cleanly from the middle as Denmark and Spain made messy starts on the right.

Maloney and Meech established a healthy lead on the first lap but led Brazil by just 13 seconds at the halfway stage of the three-lap race.

At the bottom gate, the New Zealanders chose the right-hand side and Brazil broke off to the left in search of something different.

When they came back together again at the top of the course, Brazil's alternative tactics had given them a 10-second lead.

Down the run to the finish, the New Zealanders attacked hard and made up ground on the Brazilians, but somehow Grael and Kunze held on to get across the line just two seconds ahead.

Grael's victory continues a family tradition with her father Torben having won five Olympic medals for Brazil, including gold at Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004. 

Torben was watching from a coach boat and was one of the first to congratulate his daughter.

"To receive the medals here in Rio with all our friends and family is indescribable," said Grael.

"But I didn't think about the fact the Brazilian sailing team had no medals.

"I was just focused on the race, nothing else."

Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, meanwhile, secured Croatia's first-ever gold medal in Olympic sailing after finishing eighth in the medal race in the men's 470. 

The pair sailed a controlled race, making sure they stayed ahead of their only challengers for top honours - Australia’s Mat Belcher and Will Ryan and Greece’s Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis.

Belcher and Ryan came ninth to take the silver medal and Mantis and Kagialis' 10th-place finish meant they had to settle for bronze.

Fantela and Marenic's victory crowns an excellent week for Croatia with their success going alongside Tonci Stipanovic's silver in the men’s laser on Tuesday (August 16).

Having not won an Olympic medal in sailing prior to Rio 2016, the country now has two.

With Great Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark having already won the women's 470 gold medal, the battle for silver and bronze came down to a six-way fight between France, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovenia and the United States. 

American pair Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha took up the early running and led for the first lap, putting them in the silver medal position ahead of London 2012 gold medallists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie of New Zealand.

The Americans, however, were given a penalty turn for fouling the Japanese crew which put them to the back and out of medal contention. 

This left the way clear for New Zealand to take the silver medal with reigning world champions Camille Lecointre and Hélène Defrance making a late charge from the back of the fleet to finish sixth and give France the bronze by a single point from the Dutch crew of Afrodite Zegers-Kyranakou and Anneloes Van Veen.

Zegers-Kyranakou and Van Veen finished second in the medal race behind Slovenia’s Tina Mrak and Veronika Macarol, who came sixth overall.

For New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, the men’s 49er medal race was a victory lap with the pair having won the gold medal with two races to spare after dominating the 20-boat fleet over the past week.

The four-time world champions, undefeated since taking the silver medal at London 2012, stamped their authority on the race and underlined their dominance by coming out on top. 

Germany’s Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel began the day in the silver medal position, only to begin the race very badly after a poor manoeuvre just 20 seconds before the start.

This put them on the back foot and opened the door for Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen to seize the advantage.

The London 2012 Olympic champions did enough to stay ahead of their rivals and won the silver medal for their country as Heil and Ploessel took bronze.