Gimil, nice start...
I'm kinda feeling a little nostalgic for the original British Isles map though, the same as some other folks. Even though the original is not accurate, once you play it so many times, it doesn't matter - you get familiar with the game play. I like the British Isles 2.0 idea someone mentioned.
When I look at this map, I just see a washed out blue-green image, and it's hard to pickup borders and bonus regions. I would prefer you color the regions the same colors as the original (at least a shade of that color). Then maybe the very thin borders would stand out a bit more. The flags are really distracting when looking at the map as a whole. Sure I can tell where borders start/stop and I can see the thicker glow on borders to signify bonus regions, It's just a little too hard.
I also think you shouldn't tilt the Sea names, but keep them straight. All the other names are straight. I like the call-out box on the right side. I'm not sure about the font choice either. I know it's got an Old English feel to it, but it's kind of hard to read. Anyway, I'll be interested to see where this goes. I know you've got the skills Gimil - good luck taking on this revamp of a CC classic map.