The ex-Kavanagh College pupil was already looking like the one to beat in the final after smashing the world's best time, set in 1994, for the women's lightweight single scull in the semifinal.
McBride started quickly in the final, but Fabiana Beltrame took an early one-length lead going through the first 500m which she maintained until the 1000m.
McBride was playing the waiting game, and poured on the pressure in the final quarter to win comfortably in 7min 31.15sec.
McBride was joined by the men's lightweight four, the women's double and Mahe Drysdale in the men's single scull as gold medal winners for New Zealand.
Otago University rower Alistair Bond and lightweight four team-mates Curtis Rapley, James Lassche, and James Hunter were patient in their final, ousting the French men's lightweight four at the halfway marker to become the race frontrunners.
Switzerland then popped up for a challenge, but the New Zealanders remained composed and held on to half a boat-length lead for gold, heading for home in a time of 5min 57.38sec.
Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale was happy to wait until late in his final to haul in the Belarussian sculler Stanislau Shcharbachenia, who went out to an early lead from the outside lane.
Drysdale took over in the final quarter to hold on to the gold medal from fast-finishing Cuban sculler Angel Rodriguez Fournier.
The women's double scull team of Zoe Stevenson and Eve MacFarlane left it even later to claim gold in their event.
The Australian crew had the lead until the 1500m mark before the United States crew took over, but Stevenson and MacFarlane snatched gold away from the Americans in the final strokes, with a photo finish separating the top two crews.
Other medals went to the women's lightweight double of Julia Edward, who secured silver, and the women's pair of Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast, who chased hard to finish third behind the world champion Great Britain combination and the United States.
The men's eight finished just outside the medals, but the performance of the young crew to finish fourth in the final will give Rowing New Zealand plenty of reason for hope for the coming months.
The full New Zealand squad will now focus its attention on preparing for the third and final world cup of 2015 to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland, next month, where the men's pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray will return.
