By Peter Smith

WEYMOUTH, England (Reuters) - New Zealand's women sailors fulfilled a pledge to go one better than their men by winning gold on Friday in sailing's 470 class.

Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie sailed serenely round the short Nothe course untroubled by the British team of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, who took silver having entered the medal race joint first.

Mills and Clark chose the left side in the first upward beat while the Kiwis struck out on their own course after a slow start and stayed in front to the end.

"We had taken a look at the course before the race and we were pretty happy the right would be fine," Aleh told reporters. "We needed to strike out on our own".

Aleh had joked about beating the New Zealand men earlier in the week when their compatriots Peter Burling and Blair Tuke came second to Australia in the men's 49er skiff.

The Netherlands team of Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout won the bronze after a tight finish with France's Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron.

The French women finished in front of the Dutch in fifth place in the medal race but the veteran Dutch women squeezed home by one point overall.

(Editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:; mark.meadows.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 20 7542 7933; For all the latest; Olympic news go to http://www.reuters.com/london-olympics-2012)