Assuming Columbus sails more or less westwards from England and consequently ends up landing in OTL's Maritimes or New England, would we see a slower push to explore and colonise the New World?
Admitting Colombus manages to sail to Maritimes and come back, I'd expect his first perception of the lands being slightly different from what he had IOTL. Even with a lot of willful blindess, the region would fit even less any wild description of Cipangu. Maybe he'll think being ashore of Tartaria and China most definitely southwards, where he would probably go if he manages to pull other expeditions.
Note that, while he wouldn't met strong states, he would meet with the chiefdoms that followed the decline of medieval Mississipian civilization, with villages and a relatively more structured society than in Caribbeans in the form of confederacies or complex chiefdoms in some places, Haudenosee confederacy or the Miqmaq ensemble that seems to have been relatively tied together. In short, Colombus' expedition would be an earlier Cabot, with a slightly earlier opening to fur and fishing trade (contrary to what is sometimes advanced, there's no real trace of European fishing this west in Atlantic, safe in the northern part, when it blossomed after Cabot).
Maybe European trade and fishing would reach Virginia/Carolina earlier than IOTL, but I wouldn't expect much change on the region.
Ironically, Castille could launch another expedition (the equivalent of Cabot's but in reverse) to reach "Tartaria", maybe ending up in Florida and eastern Caribbeans.
Discovery of Brazil was only a matter of time as Portuguese circumnavigated Africa, IMO.
I doubt you'd have much immediate changes, except that Castille may, due to a delayed start, enter in the region differently and without certainty about conquest of Mexico, and even less about Peru. But that's true of any PoD in the late XVth/early XVIth.
one thing I've wondered about... if the English had indeed financed Columbus, might they convince him to take the 'Viking route'... Iceland/Greenland/Vinland, instead of the southern Azores/Caribbean route?
This road was essentially forgotten, mostly because it was fairly uninteresting from financial or trade point of views.Even if someone went into accounts, they would be unimpressed at mention of wood, ice and more wood. The end-goal there was still Indias, not old tales from people seen as semi-Barbarians.